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Monday, September 14, 2020

Author Anecdote: PNR Author Barb Jones - I'm the Queen of Blind Dates!

Let’s see…. here’s a funny story. I’m the Queen of Bad Blind Dates. In a weird way, I enjoy them. But this one really took the cake. So, I’m working over in the Miami area and decided while I am here, I might as well kickstart my dating life again. I mean, after all, I’m divorced for a long time, so let’s get the show started. Well, I used one of the in-person matchmaking services. I was set up on a blind date. We decided to get together at a well-known steakhouse restaurant and dress up a bit. It started off as fun, interesting but then it got weirder. We ordered; all is going well. I mean he was cute, smart and it was like it was going to be something wonderful. Maybe we will see each other after this date.

Me – I like steak so I ordered that. He ordered his meal. Before I could even pick up my knife and fork, he took my plate and started to cut my food. Literally cut my food! I think the idea of me being 100% ladylike went out the window. I stood up, and said “What on earth do you think you are doing?” He told me that he thought it would be appropriate to cut my steak. Again, not realizing how loud my voice carried. “Do I look like I have broken arms? Or better do I look like I am two?” Finding our server, I asked them to pack my meal to go, add a dessert. Then my wonderful date (using the term lightly here) said, “I also ordered milk for you while you were in the bathroom.” I told him thank you, but I am lactose intolerant. I told the server to put my half on my own check and tried to get out of there fast. Like I said, I am the Queen of Bad Blind Dates.

I’m still waiting for the Prince Charming who won’t cut my steak!

“That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”

Queen’s Ascension (Blood Prophecy Book Three)
by Barb Jones
August 17, 2020
Genre: Paranormal
Publisher: World Castle
ISBN: 9781953271013
ISBN: 9781953271020
ASIN: B08DKK66PM
Number of pages: 236 pages
Word Count: 86107 words
Cover Artist: Steven J. Catizone

Bloodshed. Heartbreak. Revelation.

When the darkness was compelling and the heart knew no bounds, was there really a right choice? With Michael’s life hanging in the balance, Amber had a choice: save her star-fated love or keep on the crusade to unite the magical community.

For Amber, her fate was sealed even before her birth and it was her destiny to fight the great battle ahead of her. But, when it came to her heart -- her friends, her great love -- Amber’s torn. Not only was she the Queen, but she was a human in every sense of the word. She was vulnerable. And so the very people -- Chloe and Michael -- that gave her strength, quickly became her weakness. It wasn’t her fault she loved too much, was it?

Nevertheless, the Tall Dark Man had set a plan in motion that could threaten the very existence of the Blood Prophecy. Would he gather his dark forces and succeed in destroying Amber once and for all? Or, would she assemble her powerful friends and save the world?

 
Excerpt: 
Malakai, Seattle, Present Day 
With the betterment of both Michael and Rae, Malakai was glad that they were well and fine; nevertheless, he needed some time to decompress. All the magical commotions that had occurred were too overwhelming for him. He needed some sort of release. 
He enjoyed the brisk jog in the park, as he cut through the sharp wind of the cold night. But this did nothing to lift his spirits. He was happy that Amber’s smile finally met her eyes. That was all he’d ever wanted for her: happiness, that’s it. There was nothing more he could ask for—she was his priority. Yet, in the back of his mind, as in his heart, he couldn’t help but believe the ancient legend that he’d heard so long ago was the certifiable truth, as it was written in Eschmun’s scroll. 
…her fate is tied to the true alpha of the wolves. A blood drinker will stand formidable, but it is the nature of the child to call upon the true alpha and bring him to the queen’s inner heart. 
Could this be the truth? he often wondered as he traveled the world collecting artifacts and evidence supporting this notion. Yes, he’d crafted a reliquary, quite accidentally, and people assumed it was to keep the magic insulated, away from the humans. But that wasn’t the case, at least not for him. He so wanted to believe, just from the sheer fact that it was said in the scroll. But Malakai was a man of logic, driven by cold hard data. Although wanting to romanticize that his destiny was tied with Amber’s, he needed confirmation. He wanted validation for the strong emotions he was feeling. 

*** 

Zaraquel, Seattle, Present Day 
Walking the cemetery grounds as she so often did without the knowledge of her parents, Zaraquel wandered at a leisurely pace. She whipped out her phone and checked the time, which read midnight. Her brow quirked in confusion, as she had expected Loquiel some time ago. With her long hair styled in two braids and her bright red coat to keep her warm, she sat down on a bench. 
She was elated that her best friend, other than the one that was currently running late, was alive and breathing. Rae had given Zaraquel a terrible fright, for she had never known the death of someone close to her heart. She shook, not from the cold, but from remembering the tragic vision she had of Rae’s demise. 
A throaty growl awoke her from her thoughts. She heard the fast footfalls of someone, something, running toward her, and she put her fight training to use. Zaraquel spun around, so much so that her wings unfurled. But that did not deter the undead man from attacking her. His decaying flesh was a sight she instantly wished she could unsee, but she had to fulfill her duty and protect the people, which meant ridding the world of this monster. 
She punched him in the stomach as her father had taught her, but that did nothing to stop him from throwing his fists at her. She dodged his poor attempts at aiming for her and grabbed his arm, twisting him around so he fell to his knees. Her weight on his back caused the corpse to fall to the ground. It growled in anger, shaking its head savagely, as if it couldn’t wait to get back to its feet. Zaraquel, however, had plans of her own. She stood briefly to step on his neck to keep him from moving, and whispered a spell she’d learned from a book. 
“Capite obtruncato intestinisque extractis.” 
She heard the cracking of his bones, the stretching of his skin; with a pop! his head flew off, gore spattering in every direction. His body went limp, as it was before he had risen from the ground. 
Zaraquel sighed in frustration as she walked off, disappointed from another unnecessary and unjustified kill. She continued to walk the grounds and felt a rush of warm wind, the kind she felt every time Loquiel was near. She turned and there he was, right behind her.

About the Author:
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Barb Jones was born in Hawaii, a place rich with culture and storytellers. As a little girl, scary tales about vampires, werewolves, angels, demons, and witches were her favorite kind — much to her mother's dismay. Her love for the supernatural never went away, even after moving to Seattle, far from Hawaii's majestic beaches with unusual colors. Despite the unmatched beauty in Hawaii, Seattle stole Barb’s heart and it’s here where her stories took on a new form, in a book of her own: The Adventures of Little Arthur and Merlin the Magnificent.

Then, the idea for The Blood Prophecy came while she was sleeping. In a dream, Barb saw a unique storyline involving all the races and an epic battle of good versus evil. It was a modern-day plot with a three-thousand-year-old prophecy, The Blood Prophecy. Barb finished the first book in 2014, The Queen's Destiny. Two years later, she released The Queen's Enemy, and the third book in the series, The Queen's Ascension, arrives on August 17, 2020.

She is not only a paranormal thriller author but an IT professional and mother of two fantastic children. Today, she resides in Florida but is still a Seattle girl at heart.

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