Always leave a tip...

Here we are, once again, ladies and gents.

I'm here to ask for alms for the poor, starving artists. If you have read a book that you like and you enjoy, I would beg you to leave a review. Especially for us newbies.

Why leave a review? Well, there a myriad of reasons, not the least of which is: A good review makes us all peacocky. We spread our feathers and look happy and glorious in our delight. It encourages us to write more, that we're going something right with our words.

A review is a way of saying thank you, author. You've done a good job here, please keep up the good work. Kind of like getting that Gold Star for the day when you were first grade. We wear our reviews with pride.

If you're an excellent reviewer or want to be one, you can even critique our works to help us become better writers! (But please, go gentle. Don't just come in there and tell us we SUCK and should disappear from the planet. That doesn't help anyone.)*

But the hard truth is, we need your reviews to spread the word about our books. Did you ever notice the bar under you purchases on Amazon that say "Other's Who Viewed This Item, Also Viewed:"? Well, those aren't populated randomly. They rely on your metrics. And the only things that can get on there are items with 25+ reviews.

So someone who read "A Discovery of Witches" and enjoys reading about them, would never see "Penumbra: Equinox" as a suggestion until it's reached 25 reviews**.

More reviews mean more perks for us as well. Amazon has several levels of perks when it comes to reviews, and all of them benefit everyone.

So, please, dear readers. Leave a review. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads. Even here is welcome! It doesn't have to be complex, drawn out, and like you're reviewing Chaucer for your Freshman 101 English Comp class. Three lines? Five lines. Just a quick note to say, "Nice. I enjoyed this."

Thank you.

Penumbra: Equinox

e-books available at:

Kindle for Amazon 

Nook for Barnes & Noble
Smashwords for Kobo 

Print:

Createspace Direct by Amazon

Amazon


____________________________
* It's painful to read a 1-star review by someone doesn't even normally read the genre. "This book is not something I would read. I don't know why I did. It sucks." We don't know why you read it either; please just move on.
** Of course there is a big controversy about buying reviews. You can. I don't. I seek a genuine, organic audience who really enjoyed reading my work. I will seek out reviews from some websites and bookblogs, but they are not compensated in anyway save to receive a free copy to read. And the one that do, will tell you exactly that.

Halloween sale!

You read it right. Penumbra is just 99¢ until Halloween. 

Get it while the gettin' is good! 

And guess what? Until Halloween, you can order the PRINT of
Penumbra: Equinox
at 15% off the regular price! 

Order through Createspace and use code
FKHGHRCS
for your discount.

Happy Halloween! Blessed Samhain!

Penumbra: Equinox

e-books available at:

Kindle for Amazon 

Nook for Barnes & Noble
Smashwords for Kobo 

Print:

Createspace Direct by Amazon

Amazon

Halloween winners!

Hey all--

Thanks again for stopping by and playing along! We have our three winners-- Watch your inboxes for my email!

Our runners up are Debbie and Holly!

And the winner is
~*~Vida B~*~

I love the Charmed ladies!
Thank you so much for stopping by; I'll get those emails out to you sometime today.

And in the meanwhile, I realized, I never posted the promised teaser from the second book. That was awfully rude and inconsiderate and disorganized of me. So, as promised yesterday, here is the excerpt from Penumbra: Solstice (currently slated for March 15, 2014).

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Vincent calmly stood and turned around. “Inspector. I didn’t expect to see you so soon.” He offered his hand to the man.

DuPré took a deep breath, and didn’t take his hand. He motioned to the officers behind him. “I am sorry, Monsieur Morchause, but we are going to have to place you under arrest. There simply aren’t any alternative theories we can come up with that fit the circumstances. You were placed near the scene by two completely different sources, and we must assume the worst.”      

 The officer put a pair of handcuffs on him and said something in French. Vincent took a deep breath, and braced himself for action. Alia laid a hand on his forearm. “No. Don’t. You aren’t guilty, and therefore will not be convicted. Go with them, and we’ll get this all straightened out in a few days time.” Vincent nodded.

“He’s a murderer, Alia,” came another voice from behind DuPré. “He won’t be acquitted.”

DuPré made a fluttering motion as if to hush the person, and then quickly gave up when he walked out from behind all the officers.

Alia’s jaw dropped nearly to the floor. “Charles Berendorf!? YOU are the other source!? What in the name of the seven hells are you doing here? Accusing my husband of murder in a foreign city, making our life miserable?!”

DuPré looked at Alia askew. “You know him?”

“He tried to turn me away from my husband when we were in high school! He speared one of our friends through the shoulder with an eighteen inch long silver knife, and was mad he had missed Vincent!”

Another of the group, one of the other inspectors, spoke up. “C’est impossible. Monsieur Garmond has lived in Paris for twenty years. He could not have been at your high school with you.”

Alia, Coray, Coleen and Vincent all looked at Berendorf with their eyes wide open in disbelief. He didn’t look any different from the day of prom. He wasn’t backing down either this time; he stared at them with a cool expression on his face.

“Please escort Monsieur Morchause to the car, s’il vous plait,” DuPré said. “Garmond, please remain here while we settle him in.” Two officers and DuPré led Vincent to the waiting police car.

Alia turned to Berendorf. “I don’t know who the hell you are, Charles, or even what your real name is but I swear to you, you will not be able to keep my husband in jail. He’s innocent and you know it.”    

“I don’t know that,” he said. “What you do not seem to fathom is the dangerous creature your husband is. He murdered an old woman last night to satisfy his demonic urges. He is cruel, he is evil, and he is dangerous.”

Alia assumed her regal aires. “You obviously do not realize how dangerous I am.” She walked a little closer to Charlie. “You’ve tried this before. I know what my husband is. I know what his father, and his brothers and his sisters are. What you obviously don’t know is who I am. Well, now you are going to find out, Charles. Just as I will find out who and what you are, and destroy it.” 

Penumbra: Equinox

e-books available at:

Kindle for Amazon 

Nook for Barnes & Noble
Smashwords for Kobo 

Print:

Createspace Direct by Amazon

Amazon

Blog Hoppin' for Halloween!

HI!!!  Welcome -- or welcome back if you're not new here. It's a delight to have you!

So, allow me to introduce you to my world: witches, werewolves, vampires. Demons and daemons. Fae and strigoi. Superheroes, and superhumans. Masked avengers and heroes of all sort. It starts off simple. Well, ok not really, but you get the idea.

It starts in 1988, in upstate New York at a high school called Ulysses Grant Regional High School. And it all starts with a lice infestation. Yeah. Lice. Nothing like a few bugs to spice up your Halloween, right? Penumbra: Equinox is the way into this crazy world. You can meet all the big players: Alia, Coray, Vincent, Coleen, Billy and Rosa-- and of course the bad guy, Vaduva. You'll dislike him.

Today, October 23th-- Gift Card Fun!: I'll be giving away a signed paperback copy of P:E, a bookmark and a $10 Visa Gift Card. I'll also give away 2 ebooks for runners-up as well.-- Remember to check back tomorrow to find out who won and claim your prize!

So what's the question today? Tell me about your favorite movie monster. Mummies, zombies, vampires... you get the idea. Even witches and demons are welcome. Tell me who and tell me why. And I'll choose the 2 runners up and winner by tomorrow morning.  

And one other quick note: if any of you wonderful people out there have had a chance to read Penumbra: Equinox, could you be an awesome person and give me a review on Amazon or Goodreads? That would be incredible, thankssomuch.:)

e-books available at:

Kindle for Amazon 

Nook for Barnes & Noble
Smashwords for Kobo 

Print:

Createspace Direct by Amazon
Amazon

Because, Science!: Penumbral Eclipse

It's like it was meant to happen! No, I totally did not know that there was going to be an eclipse the week I released my book. Nor did I have any clue that this wasn't just an eclipse, but a penumbral eclipse.

WEE!! How cool!

Penumbra's original story came from the science of blue moons. I found out that there was going to be a blue moon on a Halloween that fell on a Friday -- and I just needed to create a story to go with it. Hence, Penumbra in it's infancy.

And it's wicked cool that there's a penumbral eclipse the week I release it? I'm MAGIC!

Ok, I'm not. I'm scientific. And I love science. So watch the skies at moonrise in the east on October 18th. Enjoy our orbiting neighbor.

And read about what the deal is about penumbral eclipses here.

Because, SCIENCE!

October 16th Blog Hop Winners!

Well, thank you all for stopping by! I would call the day quite a success!

Sorry about the little delay in announcing the winners. I got stuck in traffic jam this morning... Ok, that's a lie. The pillow and I had bonded so well, I didn't want to say good-bye.

The 2 runners up are--

Vida B

Lindy S

And our winner is - 

~*~Shirley Bastian~*~

for making snort-laugh and making my husband look at me cross-eyed. 

THANK YOU ALL! If you haven't heard from me, please email me at jrastevens at gmail dot com or just put your email in the comment below. 

Next week, we do it again! Except this time, I want my nook people to join the fun: The Gift Certificate will be a VISA so you can use anywhere-- including an actual bookstore. GASP!! 

Enjoy the book, ladies! 

____________________________________________

Penumbra: Equinox

e-books available at:

Kindle for Amazon 

Nook for Barnes & Noble
Smashwords for Kobo 

Print:

Createspace Direct by Amazon
Amazon

Halloween Blog Hoppin'!

Click Here for
Penumbra: Equinox on Amazon!

Hey, all!  Welcome to the blog.

So, yesterday I released a brand new book, "Penumbra: Equinox." There's lots of Halloween in it. Lots and lots! I'm very excited that it's out there for every one to enjoy. Witches and werewolves and Vampires, oh my!

Today, October 16th-- It's AMAZON FUN: I'll be giving away a signed paperback copy of P:E, a bookmark and a $10 Gift Card to Amazon. I'll also give away 2 ebooks for runners-up as well! To the winner, in advance: please be patient. The paperbacks are on their way here! *happy dance*

So how do you win? Well, I would like you to find a Halloween themed quote, anything you can find at all: funny, scary, silly (like my witch hat up there-- I love that hat.), and post it for me. It can be from a movie, a book, or a song. Whatever. I'll pick my favorite and two runners-up and I'll announce the winners tomorrow by 9 a.m. 

If you want to keep with Alia, Vincent and the gang, please follow me! I'm on Facebook and Twitter @thekittylover42, and you're always welcome to follow my blog, right here.

*******************

And as promised- The Excerpt from Penumbra: Equinox.

“Vin, you were standing there with a tail,” Alia smiled. “I’m pretty much convinced. It’s just me being upset about people not telling us things, and not know what’s going on.”

Vincent took her hand, and stopped her. He turned her to look at him. “I know one thing, after what happened last night.”

“Oh? What’s that?” Alia smiled.

“That I love you.”

Alia froze. She was not expecting that, at all. She looked at him astonished for a moment and realized she felt the exact same way. “I love you too?” she answered, sounding confused.

Vin smiled. “You’re not sure?”

“I am sure, that’s the problem,” Alia laughed.

“I sat there last night thinking I would have to tell you,” Vin said, “I realized I would have to tell you one day anyway because I wanted to keep you around for a while anyway.”

“Very romantic, Vincent,” Alia smiled.

“But it’s true!” Vin said and leaned in to kiss her.

She jerked away and spun around; an icy cold wave of hate washing over her from behind her. Vincent was confused for a moment, but then had the rush of hate wash over him, and they both turned to look. Halfway down the block they could see Stacey standing there, looking absolute furious.

“Uh oh,” Alia said.

Stacey slowly walked toward them. There was a cold wind blowing around them, which while it was October, it was not the right kind of cool fall wind that would have been normal. Vincent looked at Alia, and clearly showed he was nervous about this confrontation.

“Uh, Vin,” Alia whispered. “Something you need to tell me?”

He swallowed. “Yeah, uh... all those rumors about the sabbat tables and black magic? Completely true. She’s totally a witch.” He glanced at her. “No relation.”

“Not even close,” Alia said. “Black magic.”

“Yup,” Vincent said. “She’s good at making my skin crawl.”

Stacey walked steadily closer, her words echoing oddly. “Well, well, well. Now I see what’s going on here.” She seemed to age before their eyes.

“What are you talking about?” Alia asked, trying to play dumb.

“Vincent, you’re walking away from all I offered?”

“Offered?” he asked. “You haven’t offered me anything. You just continue to make my life miserable. Go away.”

“I don’t go away, Vincent. Not after all you’ve seen.”

“All I’ve seen?” he asked. “How about we try, all you forced on me. All you dragged me into. I told you, I have my own problems, I don’t want yours.” Vincent said.

“Problems?” she laughed. “These aren’t problems. This is part of who I am, who I want you to be. I need you Vincent. I need you to be there for me, I need you in what I have begun.”

“I don’t want any part of anything that has to do with you,” Vincent said.

“You can’t walk away from this,” Stacey said.

“From what? There is nothing to walk away from!”

Alia grabbed Vincent’s hand. “Just watch him.” She turned around and started walking. Alia heard Stacey start yell something and a moment later, she felt like she had walked into a wall.

“You are not going to walk away from me, Vincent,” Stacey said. “You are not going to ruin what I’ve worked for all this time. I have your blood, I need your soul.”

Vincent glanced at Alia, and then turned around to looked at Stacey. “My what?”

“Your soul.”

*******************

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