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Friday, June 9, 2023

Excerpt: Midnight at Bat Hollow by Eric Avedissian

Midnight at Bat Hollow
by Eric Avedissian
06-10-2023
Horror

Publisher: Shadow Spark Publishing

Reece Rokowski never wanted to be a hero. A dedicated cop and stickler for law and order, Reece’s life is anything but orderly. His wife split, his gambling debts spiraled, and his past trauma haunts him.

Drowning his sorrows at a local watering hole, Reece meets Queenie, a woman too good to be true. He could tell Queenie anything, perhaps too much. On his way home, Reece stumbles upon a John Doe nearly sucked dry of blood and becomes the prime suspect.

As Reece defies his superiors and investigates, he encounters the Legion of the Lamb, a monster-hunting biker gang looking into the same case. Teaming up with the Legion, Reece discovers gaps of missed time, a hulking stranger pursuing him from the shadows, and a secret vampire coven. When the bloodsuckers capture Queenie, it's up to Reece and the Legion to save her before the Regens Noctis – the true ruler of the night – plunges the city into an orgy of blood.




Excerpt from Midnight at Bat Hollow by Eric Avedissian:

Footfalls grew close.

Through cracks in the bunkhouse’s warped wooden walls, Reece made out a faint figure. The thing paused, sniffed the air, and made a beeline for the bunkhouse.

“Nice going with the screaming, Po-po.” Big Earl nudged Reece. “Now they found us.”

At least three vampires convened on the bunkhouse. They sniffed around the porch, then moved cautiously toward the door.

“Get ready,” Hank gripped the shovel.

The doorknob turned. The sound of heavy footfalls clomped over the roof, the movement of something large and angry.

Reece’s gaze shot from the door to the roof.

All three men looked upward. The vampire’s ruse worked. Distracted by the pattering of feet on the roof, they foolishly ignored the obvious.

The door.

With a swoosh of displaced air, something kicked open the door and breezed past them. An unseen force slammed Reece to the ground. The scythe tumbled away.

The roar of Big Earl’s chainsaw split the quiet. A wet squelch and crunch of bone mixed with the chainsaw’s roar erupted through the dark. The vampire’s head fell to the ground, bouncing over the floorboards. The headless corpse smacked the floor with a thud.

Hank growled and swung his shovel. The metal shovelhead caught a vampire in its face. A third vampire grappled with Reece. The two wrestled, forming a tangled mass of limbs, their bodies rolling on the floor. Reece stared into the vampire’s open maw; two sharp and deadly fangs filled his vision. The vampire’s red eyes gazed at Reece with feverish rapture. Pinned to the ground by a creature with overwhelming strength, Reece flailed helplessly.

A rotting charnel stench from the monster’s mouth made Reece’s eyes water. The vampire’s fangs extended. The creature leaned closer, but Reece pushed back. Exhaustion filled Reece. His grasp slipped. The vampire’s fangs are so close to Reece’s exposed neck felt the creature’s hot breath graze his nape.

A mechanized roar and crimson splatter erupted as the chainsaw’s blade split the vampire’s head in two. A foul ichor showered Reece from all directions. He screamed again, this time ramping it up a few octaves.

Vampire blood drenched Reece’s chest and face.

“What did you….Did you…do?” Reece rasped.

“Saved your ass,” Big Earl said. “You good?”

Reece wiped the blood from his face. “Yeah. I’m good. Considering.”

Big Earl helped Reece to his feet and handed him the scythe.

“Not far now. The big house is the next building over,” Hank reminded them.

They left the bunkhouse and sprinted exposed across open ground. Things moved in the darkness on the far end of the property; shadowy blurs zigzagged, stopped, then resumed their pursuit.

“They’ve spotted us,” Reece cried. “Move!”

Reece’s legs burned as he darted past Hank and Big Earl. He reached the ranch house’s wraparound porch. They scrambled inside, locking the door behind them.

About the Author
Website-Twitter
Instagram

Eric Avedissian is an adjunct professor and speculative fiction author. His published work includes the novel Accursed Son and the role-playing game Ravaged Earth. His short stories appear in various anthologies, including Across the Universe, Great Wars, and Rituals & Grimoires. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and a ridiculous number of books. When not chained to his writing desk, he hikes the Pinelands and wastes too much time on social media. Visit him online at www.ericavedissian.com.

Thursday, June 8, 2023

Fantasy Author C.D. Britt: Pros and cons of owning Cerberus + giveaway

Pros and cons of owning Cerberus

One does not truly own Cerberus unless Cerberus deems one worthy, but if you're committed to nurturing a relationship with your own three-headed hell hound, here are the Pros and Cons. (The care and nurturing of said Hellhound will be in next week’s issue).

Pros:

1. Almost human in their level of intelligence, they are empathic to your emotions in a way a mortal canine is not. You can cry over your cheating ex, and instead of just slobbery kisses and furry cuddles, Cerberus is able to help you plot said ex’s bloody demise.

2. Cleans up their own poop which leaves time for other fun activities.

3. The best guard dog since he eats unwanted solicitors. (see #2 in cons)

4. Clears crowds when out for a walk. (see #4 in cons)

5. Great at burying things, like said ex.

Cons:

1. Acid slobber makes playing fetch a lot less fun

2. Will also eat your friends if not careful

3. When in beast mode, will light things on fire with his tail.

4. The screaming and running of humans in a panic can trigger his need to chase. This is when you will need to have an in with the local law enforcement.

5. Great at digging things up... just hopefully not the ex. (Again, a good relationship with local law enforcement would be beneficial here).


Prophecy of Gods and Crows (Clan of Shadows, #1)
by C.D. Britt
June 6th 2023
Genre: Fantasy/ Dystopian/ Celtic Mythology 
Publisher: C.D. Britt
ISBN: 978-1-7372652-8-3
ASIN: B0BRDHTFZX
Number of pages: 362
Word Count: 98,220
Cover Artist: GermanCreative
Welcome to Hell’s Half Acre.

Bryndis Kenneally is an anomaly, which is saying something when you live in a place called Hell.

Despite being born into a family of healers, she is unable to follow in their footsteps since disturbing visions overwhelm her with almost every human touch.

With few allies at her back, she keeps her head down… until she starts to see a man made of shadows, and a crow begins to track her every move.

Now, she can no longer pretend to be a normal woman among a town looking for witches to burn.

That is until a freak sandstorm brings more than she bargained for… and quite possibly her salvation.

Book one in the Clan of Shadows series, a dystopian paranormal romance series.
Book Trailer: 


Excerpt
Bryn swayed her body to the last of the music, the night ending slowly as people stumbled and laughed after having allowed themselves the pleasure of being human one night of the year.

Soon enough, only the light of the torches were left aside from the fires that burned only once a year along the street. The shadows took over the celebration as they danced along the buildings.

The feeling in her gut, the warning, grew at a rapid rate and she found herself standing and looking around.

“What’s wrong?” Niamh asked, standing as well, looking for a threat.

“I’m not sure. I’ve had this bad feeling…” Bryn whispered as her system flooded with adrenaline.

The warning horns split open the joyous atmosphere of the night like a knife. The screams of the people matching the horns as they ran from the streets to take cover from the unknown danger.

Bryn and Niamh both turned as one toward the gate as small dust devils made their way along the street, trailing the panicked townspeople as they ran, shoving at each other like wild, mindless animals.

“Sandstorm,” Niamh whispered, her eyes focused on something past the gates. Words in another language Bryn had never heard soon left Niamh’s lips.

In her own panicked state, Bryn tried to calm her nerves, debating on if she could make it back to her apartment or if she needed to take cover with Niamh. The fact that Niamh was in a trance, staring intensely at the gate, made her hand twitch with the urge to slap Niamh out of it.
“Sandstorm!” Justin yelled as he ran down the road toward them. “Get inside and take cover!”

They’d never had a sandstorm bad enough to cause such panic before. The walls usually took the brunt of the weather for them.

“Now!” Justin was suddenly in her face, shoving at her shoulder and pushing her and Niamh into The Sanctuary. A horrifying cloud of red dust enveloped the town right as Justin slammed the door shut behind them. The entire road engulfed in tornadic sand was the last visual she had of Saint’s road.

“Away from the windows!” He herded them to an inner room in The Sanctuary, yelling for the others in brothel to do the same. Bryn didn’t look to see what men from town were here.

She didn’t want that on her conscience and since she was a horrible poker player, she didn’t want to pretend in public when she watched them walking with their families to church service before she turned in for the day.

Settling down in one of the supply rooms, Bryn put her head to her knees, wrapping her arms around her legs. Focusing on her breathing and not the glass breaking, Bryn worked to calm her heart rate, trying to ignore the sobs of the other women in the dark room as the glass broke and the wind howled.

Finian whined, having moved back to Justin’s side.

The only light was from the cracked door Justin looked through, flinching every once in a while as he watched the storm bear down on their little town.

“Calm yourselves. Your yelling isn’t going to change the course of this storm,” Niamh chided, her voice barely audible over the furniture breaking outside of their little room. Bryn was surprised by the calmness in Niamh’s voice as her business was being torn apart. Her whole life was in The Sanctuary.

A tingling started in her fingers and toes, as well as the all too familiar feeling of ants under her skin. Bryn rubbed along her arms at the same time as Justin, their movements mirroring each other.

Looking to Niamh, her eyes focused on the wall as if she could see through it, as if her focus could stop the destruction, Bryn patted the woman on the shoulder before she pulled back.

Her skin was growing more sensitive and the anxiety building up inside her was becoming a raging inferno.

“I am here, come to me, my child,” Bryn heard the whispered words, and looked for who was speaking. No one else looked around for the voice, as if they hadn’t heard it.

Bryn was sure her heart stopped. Was this a vision? It didn’t feel like one.

When Justin looked at her, his eyes confused, she realized it wasn’t just her who had heard the whispered plea.

The distraction of Justin kept her from noticing one of the men in the room sitting too close to her, his fingers brushing hers and she knew before it happened she was going into a vision. Feeling it come upon her, she scooted away from him, further into the corner of the room right as the black stole over her vision.

About the Author
C.D. Britt began her writing journey when her husband told her she needed to use her excessive imagination to write stories as opposed to creating a daily narrative for him. Ever since she penned her first words, life has been a lot more peaceful for him.

She currently resides in Texas where she has yet to adapt to the heat. Her husband thrives in it, so unfortunately, they will not be relocating to colder climates anytime soon.

Their two young children would honestly complain either way.

When she is not in her writing cave (hiding from the sun), she enjoys ignoring the world as much as her children will allow with a good book, music, and vast amounts of coffee (until it’s time for wine).

C.D. Britt is the author of the Reign of Goddesses series, Clan of Shadows series, and the upcoming Blood of Saviors series.

Tweet: 

Bryndis Kenneally is an anomaly, which is saying something when you live in a place once called Hell.
Prophecy of Gods & Crows combines Celtic Mythology, strong female leads, & slow-burn romance https://amzn.to/3IdvI8U
 #clanofshadows #celticmythology #dystopianfantasy #fantasy 

Tour Giveaway 
4 $20 Amazon Gift Cards

Wednesday, June 7, 2023

Excerpt: Death's Despair (Kassidy Simmons, Book 3) by Dennis K. Crosby + giveaway

June 6, 2023
Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Acorn Publishing

Born to a family of witches, Traci Leeds has always been connected to magic. A direct descendant of the goddess of witchcraft, she was destined to succeed her mother as leader of her coven. Her powers were dormant until trauma resulting from being kidnapped activated her abilities. Dissatisfied with their development Traci tapped into magic forbidden by those in her line. Kassidy Simmons, the Death God, continues her quest to return lost souls to their proper place in the afterlife. She and her Reapers are charged with maintaining harmony between life and death, but a recent decision to resurrect a soul has shifted that balance. A rising blood moon and supernatural occurrences involving witchcraft send Kassidy on a journey to the steps of the Underworld where she learns of the darkness surrounding Traci’s decision to tap into forbidden magic.. With an ancient prophecy looming and nightmarish visions of the apocalypse haunting her waking mind, Kassidy must rise up and withstand the fury of a Titan to save all she holds dear.


Excerpt:
“Dude,” began the Suburbanite, “let’s get the fuck outta here. You know she’s gonna call the cops.”

Kassidy sensed a great deal of fear in him. Even without the benefit of her supernatural empathic abilities, that was clear. So, at least he was smart. Switchblade was different. There was fear there, but there was also, stupidity, determination, and . . . arousal. Not so much inspired by her, but by the violence. He wanted to be a badass. He got off on it. It was likely that this entire night was more about showing off in front of the Suburbanite than asserting himself against a woman alone in the park.

It was unfortunate that they chose this night.

More unfortunate that they chose her.

“Bro, shut the fuck up and let me handle this,” said Switchblade.

“You really should listen to your boyfriend,” said Kassidy.

“What? He’s not my boyfriend, bitch.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Right, that was insensitive. I meant to say partner. You should really listen to your partner. I’m old school. I just use girlfriend or boyfriend. I’m getting better though.”

“Bitch!”

“There’s that word again,” said Kassidy.

Switchblade lunged at Kassidy. In the corner of her eye, she saw the Suburbanite back away. She was growing impatient and felt a sense of urgency to get her true mission accomplished. Normally, she wouldn’t use her powers in front of mortals. Well, that wasn’t always true. She’d certainly had some fun at the expense of others in her teens when she was just a Reaper. Back then, she didn’t care if anyone said anything. She’d already been dubbed Krazy Kassie by her classmates, so in her mind, it didn’t hurt to fuck with them. She had power. True power. And the power she had back then paled in comparison to the power she had now. Using it against these two idiots wouldn’t bring as much joy as it had in her teens, but as was the case back then, she knew these two wouldn’t be telling anyone.

And if they did, who’d believe them.

As Switchblade came at her, Kassidy shimmered out of view, reappearing behind the Suburbanite. She grabbed a handful of his hair with her left hand and grabbed at his throat with her right. When the bewildered Switchblade spun, trying to figure out what had happened, she willed her right hand to transform into an onyx sickle, the tool of a Reaper. As she touched the tip into Suburbanite’s neck, she felt, more than sensed, his fear. His heartbeat was a jackhammer competing with the sound of the wind sweeping through the park.

“What the fuck are you, lady?” asked Switchblade, his eyes wide.

“I’m the one politely asking you both, one last time, to get the fuck out of here before I get really pissed,” replied Kassidy.

Kassidy closed her eyes, knowing that her next bit of magic would likely close the deal. In the Reaper ranks, when a psycho­pomp—a being that ushered souls to the afterlife—used their power, their eyes would shine silver. Kassidy’s had been silver for decades when she powered up. A couple of times in life, they’d shown black, the mark of the Wraith. Similar to Reapers, Wraiths had been created to be the secret police of Azra-El, the former Primus or Angel of Death, right hand to the original Death God, and Kassidy’s father, Thanatos. After Kassidy dispatched Azra-El she became the new Death God, in the absence of her father. Now, when she powered up, her eyes shown a metallic, unearthly blue, the mark of a god.

That’s what Switchblade saw when Kassidy opened her eyes.

“Run!” she screamed.

And he did.

About the Author
Website-FB-Instagram
Goodreads
Dennis K. Crosby is the award-winning author of the Amazon bestselling urban fantasies, Death’s Legacy and Death’s Debt. With a degree in criminal justice, he spent six years working as a private investigator. His love of learning about people led him to pursue a master’s degree in forensic psychology. A staunch advocate of mental health reform, he has worked in social service for over a decade, promoting social justice and efforts to combat homelessness. Dennis completed an MFA program at National University, and since the release of his first novel, he has served as a speaker at the Southern California Writers’ Conference and as a panelist at Comic-Con and the Fox Cities Book Festival. He’s been a guest on a number of podcasts and has published seven short stories in various anthologies. Death’s Despair is book three in the Kassidy Simmons series. A self-proclaimed geek, the bourbon-loving Chicago Cubs fan and deep-dish pizza connoisseur lives and writes in San Diego, CA.

Virtual Book Tour - June 5 - July 7 

June 5 - RABT Book Tours - Kick Off

June 6 - Crossroad Reviews - Spotlight

June 7 - Liliyana Shadowlyn - Spotlight

June 8 - I Smell Sheep - Guest Post

June 9 - Novel News Network - Review

June 12 - Our Town Book Reviews - Excerpt

June 13 - Book Corner News and Reviews - Spotlight

June 14 -  I Love Books and Stuff - Excerpt

June 15 - Matters That Count - Spotlight

June 16 - Paseando a Miss Cultura - Excerpt

June 19 - Book Reviews by Virginia Lee - Spotlight

June 20 - Chapter Break - Review

June 21 - Momma Says to Read or Not to Read - Spotlight

June 22 - Book Junkiez - Excerpt

June 23 - Sapphyria's Book Blog - Spotlight

June 26 - The Avid Reader - Interview

June 27 - Tea Time and Books - Spotlight

June 28 - Texas Book Nook - Review

June 29 - Nana's Book Reviews - Spotlight

June 30 - Books Blog - Excerpt

July 1 - The Faerie Review - Spotlight

July 3 - The Indie Express - Review

July 5 - On a Reading Bender - Review 

July 6 - Momma and Her Stories - Excerpt

July 7 - RABT Reviews - Wrap Up



Giveaway
(3) $25 Amazon gift cards + Have a character in Book 4 named after the winner!

RABT Book Tours & PR

Tuesday, June 6, 2023

Tales of Whimsy, Verses of Woe by Tim DeRoche (Author), Daniel González (Illustrator)

For fans of Lemony Snicket or Shel Silverstein.

Welcome to the tour for Tales of Whimsy, Verses of Woe by Tim DeRoche. Read on for more details!

Tales of Whimsy, Verses of Woe
by Tim DeRoche (Author), Daniel González (Illustrator)
January 24th, 2023 (In honor of Lewis Carroll’s birthday)
Genre: Children’s Humorous Poetry/ Grades 1 – 12
Publisher: Redtail Press
If your moral character is flimsy
Or your wit be rather slow,
Oh dare not read these tales of whimsy
For often do they end in woe.

Tales of Whimsy, Verses of Woe is quite possibly the most dangerous book of poetry ever written. Do you dare? It’s so good it will make you sneeze. What becomes of a girl who absolutely detests the color green? What about a king who joins a punk band? And the little boy who calls up God on the telephone? Monsters, bears, wizards, and talking vegetables―This book has something for everyone. Winner of the prestigious Baldersquash Medal, which honors the very best in highfalutin nonsense.

Tim DeRoche and Daniel González, author and illustrator of the best-selling Ballad of Huck & Miguel, return with a book of verse that will delight anyone who loves Lemony Snicket or Shel Silverstein.

Goodreads-Amazon


About the Author
Website
Kirkus Review

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Tim DeRoche emigrated to California to attend Pomona College, where he studied English literature. His first book, The Ballad of Huck & Miguel, was featured on CBS Sunday Morning, NPR, the LA Review of Books, and the Mark Twain Forum. It was also selected by the Pasadena Public Library as the “One City, One Story” book for the Summer of 2019.

He has served as executive producer and writer of the children’s science series Grandpa’s Garage, produced by Turner, and is a graduate of the PBS Producers Academy at WGBH in Boston.

Tim lives with his wife Simone and three young kids in the La Crescenta neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Twitter: @timderoche @RRBookTours1 #RRBookTours

IG: @timderoche @rrbooktours #rrbooktours #talesofwhimsyversusofwoe #poetrybooks #funnypoetry #childrensbooks #kidsbookstagram

Book Tour Schedule
June 5th
June 6th
June 7th
June 8th
June 9th

Book Tour Organized By:

Monday, June 5, 2023

Excerpt: Prophecy of Gods and Crows (Clan of Shadows, #1) by C.D. Britt + giveaway

Prophecy of Gods and Crows (Clan of Shadows, #1)
by C.D. Britt
June 6th 2023
Genres: Adult, Dystopian, Paranormal, Romance
Welcome to Hell’s Half Acre.

Bryndis Kenneally is an anomaly, which is saying something when you live in a place called Hell.

Despite being born into a family of healers, she is unable to follow in their footsteps since disturbing visions overwhelm her with almost every human touch.

With few allies at her back, she keeps her head down… until she starts to see a man made of shadows, and a crow begins to track her every move.

Now, she can no longer pretend to be a normal woman among a town looking for witches to burn.

That is until a freak sandstorm brings more than she bargained for… and quite possibly her salvation.

Book one in the Clan of Shadows series, a dystopian paranormal romance series.


Excerpt
Bryndis Kenneally had just slipped between the cool sheets of her bed as night relinquished its hold on the small desert town. The sun was just beginning its trek across the sky as it broke over the horizon, but the familiarity of another day ended when the warning horns rang instead of the typical church bells that announced the beginning of morning service.

The only reason for the city guards to sound the horns was one that made her heart pound as her skin grew clammy. Running to her window, she tripped over her bed sheet, catching herself on the sill and earning a splinter in her palm for it. Her concern was not about the small pain, but about what was happening on a much larger scale down on the street below. Something that rarely happened in their small town, and the last time it had, she’d lost her entire world.

The stifling heat radiating from her window did nothing to stop the chills moving along her skin as she took in what the horns meant.

The gate was opening.

Looking through the dirty window, sand having accumulated along the panes, she watched as the last true member of her family, her cousin Jace, stepped out of the church doors.

Just as her father had done ten years ago.

Her mind moving back and forth between two very different times in her life, she watched Jace, the town doctor, donning the same gear her father had to make the same trek.

The exact same type of mask her father had worn ten years ago on his final journey past the gate slipped over a different face. In a tribute to their god, the leather bull mask was adorned with brass horns that glinted in the sun and one glass eye blacked out in tribute.

That same mask now covered the face of the man who was the last of her family.

Her throat tightened as the same brown hood went up over his blond hair, taking all that identified Jace from the rest away as he became a symbol of the end of Bryn’s world.

Identical to what her father had once worn and died in.

The town scrios, the leader of the Church of Baleros, stepped up next to her cousin and nodded as he affixed his own mask, before pulling the hood of his brown cloak up to cover his salt-and-pepper hair.

The two vastly different-looking men were now indistinguishable from each other after having donned the religious regalia.

Uniformity was the town’s unofficial motto.

About the Author
C.D. Britt began her writing journey when her husband told her she needed to use her excessive imagination to write stories as opposed to creating a daily narrative for him. Ever since she penned her first words, life has been a lot more peaceful for him.

She currently resides in Texas where she has yet to adapt to the heat. Her husband thrives in it, so unfortunately, they will not be relocating to colder climates anytime soon.

Their two young children would honestly complain either way.

When she is not in her writing cave (hiding from the sun), she enjoys ignoring the world as much as her children will allow with a good book, music, and vast amounts of coffee (until it’s time for wine).

C.D. Britt is the author of the Reign of Goddesses series, Clan of Shadows series, and the upcoming Blood of Saviors series.

GIVEAWAY
Blitz-wide giveaway (INT)
$25 Amazon gift card
a Rafflecopter giveaway