Author Feature: Shaun Allen

Today's featured author is Shaun Allan. Get to know Shaun a little better!


A writer of many prize winning short stories and poems, Shaun Allan has written for more years than he would perhaps care to remember. Having once run an online poetry and prose magazine, he has appeared on Sky television to debate, against a major literary agent, the pros and cons of internet publishing as opposed to the more traditional method. Many of his personal experiences and memories are woven into Sin's point of view and sense of humour although he can't, at this point, teleport.

And Shaun's latest?

Dark Places

I am Death. I know who you are...

There is darkness and madness in each of us. We must do battle with our own demons.

But...

What if those demons opened the door in the back of your mind and stepped out. What if they became real? If the night, the shadows, the reflections and Death himself walked among us? And what if they were watching you? Waiting? Thirsting...?

Dark Places. Thirteen stories. Thirteen poems.

To grab a copy of Dark Places, go here:

http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Places-ebook/dp/B009O51FZ6/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Places-ebook/dp/B009O51FZ6

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/243758

Thirteen doorways.

Author Feature: Pam Howes

Today I'm spotlighting author Pam Howes. If you like some sensual romance, you should check her out!

Pam Howes was born in Cheshire, UK. She is a retired Interior Designer who loves creating stories, but only started writing seriously about twelve years ago. The idea for her first novel, set in the sixties, came from her time as a teenager, working in a local record store and hanging round with the musicians who frequented the business.That first novel evolved into a series, three books now published. The first, Three Steps to Heaven, is the tale of rock'n'roll band, The Raiders, and their lives and loves. The sequel, 'Til I Kissed You, featuring the same characters, is set in the eighties. This book sees the reformation of The Raiders after a spell of retirement. Always On My Mind, set in 2001,is a further tale of love, betrayal and music. Pam is a big fan of sixties music and it's this love and the support and encouragement of her musician partner that compelled her to write her series. She has three adult daughters, seven grandchildren and lives in leafy Cheshire. As well as writing novels she writes short stories, which have appeared in charity anthologies and online e-zines, and poems, many of which are published. She's a member of on-line peer review group You Write On and a part-time roadie to her partner. She much prefers writing to curtain-making as no ladders are involved. A stand-alone true-life romance, Fast Movin' Train is now available.


Fast Movin' Train

Interior Designer Mandy Radcliffe runs a thriving business. Her husband is married to his job and her three daughters are adults with lives of their own. Anyone observing would assume they were a happy and successful middle-class family. Then a phone call and a declaration of love leads Mandy into a secret affair that turns her well ordered life upside down.

Pick up your copy of Fast Movin' Train today:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fast-Movin-Train-ebook/dp/B007748KUO/ref=sr_1_5?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1328782620&sr=1-5

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007748KUO/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_i0NHqb0AH85GT

Author Feature: Karlene Blakemore-Mowle

Karlene Blakemore-Mowle
Blindsided

His mission: infiltrate the woman in possession of the information—retrieve said information – don’t look back. Her mission—survive the sudden invasion that is Jason Nash—remain in control of her senses and don’t fall in love with the bad boy! Jason Nash had the life any testosterone fueled male would envy; a job he loved, freedom and the income to buy whatever new plaything took his interest. The last thing he needed was a woman who came with a ready-made family to mess up his plans. Briella Matheson found out the hard way that bad boys were bad news. What she needed was someone reliable, safe and well…boring. Boring was good. Unfortunately, what she got was Jason Nash and he was anything, but boring…he was trouble!

Get your copy of Blindsided:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blindsided-Sentinel-Securities-ebook/dp/B00AA3PF6Q/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1353791193&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Blindsided-Sentinel-Securities-ebook/dp/B00AA3PF6Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353791120&sr=1-1

Cyber Monday eBook Deals

Cyber Monday eBook Deals!

Both books in the Last Moon Rising series, Fire in the Blood and Strong Blood, are reduced to 99 cents today only. Grab your copy for the holidays!

"On Eyidora, the gods of nature are at war, and Earth deteriorates as the weather sprials out of control. The descendants of the gods must rise together to restore harmony to the world...before one of them betrays them all and destroys it."

For kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=dale+ibitz

For other reading devices, including Nook:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=dale+ibitz

Book Review: Rapture, by Phillip W. Simpson

Rapture
by Phillip W. Simpson

My Rating: 4.5  Stars



Summary (from Goodreads):
The Rapture has occurred, just as the Bible predicted. The faithful have risen up to Heaven. Those left behind are in a living hell.

Earth burns, hell-like in its oppressive heat. Every volcano in the world has erupted, and tsunamis and earthquakes continue to devastate the planet. Clouds continually rain ash onto the scorched landscape, sparking fires all around. Plants and animals are dying. Food is scarce. The night sky is devoid of stars, and the moon - when it can be seen - is the colour of blood.

The remnants of humanity fight for survival. Most have fled the cities and now hide in caves deep in the mountains. By night, demons stalk the Earth, capturing the remaining humans and killing them - if they're lucky. The less fortunate are converted to worship of the Devil, and ushered into endless hell.

Eighteen year old, Sam (short for Samael) was raised in the town of Jacob's Ladder, Utah. It is appropriately enough near to a place of natural scenic beauty called Devil's garden. He finds himself alone, unable to rise up with his family because he is half demon. His mother, a devout Christian, was seduced by Satan and conceived his child. She smuggled the boy to an old friend Hikari, a Japanese sword master and demon expert. Since then, Hikari and his daughter, Aimi, have been all the family Sam has known.

Now they're gone, and Sam must set out on the mission Hikari charged him with long ago: to help all the humans left behind. Armed only with his beloved Japanese swords and his wits, Sam wanders the post-apocalyptic world alone, separated forever from everyone he loves. Cursed by his demonic heritage, he must now embark on a quest that will take him across the US to the City of Angels.

There he will confront his destiny. There he must fight to save a friend ... and the souls of the living.

My Thoughts:

The cover immediately grabbed me. 

This is an amazing book! And don't let the religious premise of the book lead you into thinking this is a heavy-handed-preaching-religious-platform kind of book--it's not. Secular audiences will enjoy this book just as much as the Christian audience will.

The characters: top notch. Believable. Likeable. I'd want to be friends with these people.

Okay, so Sam, our main character, is, well, a demon. But despite the bad karma of his birth, Sam wants so badly to be a good, kind, normal kid. The problem is, he's not. The portrayal of Sam is so well written, so heart-wrenching and gut-wrenching at the same time, you have no choice but to pulled in to his story and feel for him. You like him. You want things to be different for him. You want him to succeed.

So Sam, despite the evil destiny that awaits him, falls into the care of a very religious, caring man, Haikari, and his daughter, Aimi. Haikari teaches Sam to not only learn about good and bad, and good and evil, but to be a warrior. He wants Sam to survive.

The pacing is very good, alternating between present and past with ease and filling in the questions and gaps just right.

The setting: very descriptive, using all the senses so that the reader can really feel the place.

I definitely have this book on my series-to-keep-reading bookshelf. Highly recommended.

With the arrival of Thanksgiving in the US a few friends thought it might be a good time to do a little promotion for all of their fans out there, as well as those people that enjoy a good book, but don't have a lot of money to spare, due to the economy and the time of year, what with people needing to save up for Christmas.

With that thought in mind, and feeling rather generous, my friends have decided to make available 20 books, each one for the princely sum of just 99c, that's 20 books for 20 bucks, hence the name of the promotion. The books cover a variety of genres, from scifi, both adventure and children's, to erotica, espionage, and a few others. There should be something for pretty much everyone.

The promotion runs from Weds 21st until Sunday 25th, all throughout the Thanksgiving holiday.

If you wish to see the books that are in the promotion, and find out about them, then please visit the following links

Amazon UK Listmania
Amazon US Listmania

Book Review: I Hunt Killers, by Barry Lyga

I Hunt Killers (Jasper Dent #1)
by Barry Lyga

Summary (from Goodreads):

Jasper "Jazz" Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say.

But he's also the son of the world's most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could—from the criminal's point of view.

And now bodies are piling up in Lobo's Nod.

In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret—could he be more like his father than anyone knows?

My Rating: 5 Stars

My Thoughts:

Wow. This book is, shall I say it? A killer of a book. If you think it's about death and gore and horror, it's not. It's a psychological case study of a kid who tries so hard to not be what he thinks the world thinks he is going to grow up to be, and trying so damn hard to be a decent human being, but ends up internally questioning his every thought and motive 24/7. It was brilliant.

I loved the characters. Jazz is so like-able in his tormented way. He got a shit deal in the hand of life. But he doesn't want to be damaged by it. He tries hard to not be damaged. You just can't help but like this kid and root for him. Every time he questions himself, you want to pat him on the back and say, 'It's going to be okay."

I love the sheriff and his good heart and his tolerance of Jazz. He doesn't hold it against Jazz that his dad was a serial killer. 

The plot moves you along at a steady pace, and you're not quite sure how it's going to end. I gobbled pages so fast, I got heart burn. I couldn't wait to finish.

This was brilliantly written. The title indicates there is more Jasper Dent to come. God, I hope so.

Friday Funnies (on Sunday)

This posting Friday Funnies on Sunday is becoming a habit!

Enjoy!

TIGHT SPOT

The ZIPPER - If this one doesn't make you laugh.....

In a crowded city at a busy bus stop, a woman who was waiting for a bus was wearing a tight leather skirt. As the bus stopped and it was her turn to get on, she became aware that her skirt was too tight to allow her leg to come up to the height of the first step of the bus. Slightly embarrassed and with a quick smile to the bus driver, she reached behind her to unzip her skirt a little, thinking that this would give her enough slack to raise her leg.   Again, she tried to make the step only to discover she still couldn't. So, a little more embarrassed, she once again reached behind her to unzip her skirt a little more. For the second time, attempted the step, and, once again, much to her chagrin, she could not raise her leg. With little smile to the driver, she again reached behind to unzip a little more and again was unable to make the step. About this time, a large Texan who was standing behind her picked her up easily by the waist and placed her gently on the step of the bus. She went ballistic and turned to the would-be Samaritan and screeched, "How dare you touch my body! I don't even know who you are!' The Texan smiled and drawled,"Well, ma'am, normally I would agree with you, but after you unzipped my fly three times, I kinda figured we was friends."

Friday Funnies (on Sunday)

Sorry. I couldn't help myself. I just had to share these horrible book titles. Enjoy!

Friday Funnies

It's been 2 long weeks, between Hurricane Sandy and Storm Aria, it's TGIF and many peeps can use a laugh...or maybe a chuckle...hey, even a simple smile will do!

I don't remember most of these ads, but they're eye-popping all the same. Imagine! I can't wait for Christmas to get my Hoover! I may look cuter. LOL