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Friday, September 30, 2022

It is time...

 

Movie Review: Hocus Pocus 2

Hocus Pocus 2
September 30, 2022
Directed By: Anne Fletcher 
Screenplay: Jen D’Angelo 
Based on characters created by David Kirschner and Mick Garris. 
Stars: Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy
Music by: John Debney
Disney+
Three young women accidentally bring back the Sanderson Sisters to modern day Salem and must figure out how to stop the child-hungry witches from wreaking havoc on the world. 

Two teenage girls light a candle given to one of them by Gilbert, owner of a shop of magic, for her 16th birthday. Thinking of using it to bring their other friend back to them, instead, it lights a black flame and brings back the Sanderson sisters. This time the three witches are out to destroy Salem, but most of all, the mayor as he is a direct descendent of the Reverend Traske, who banished them from Salem in the 1600s. This includes Becca’s and Izzy’s friend, Cassie, who happens to be the mayor’s daughter, also a direct descendent. 

At first, it started off a tiny bit bland to me, but once the three sisters are revived from death, the movie hits on overdrive. We even get to see Billy Butcherson once again. 

Stay after the end of the credits—there is an extra scene that might be a teaser maybe for another movie. 

I give Hocus Pocus 2 5 witchy sheep.





Reviewed by Pamela K. Kinney


Thursday, September 29, 2022

Excerpt: Green House Haunting: An Andy Watts Ghost Column by Olivia York + giveaway

Green House Haunting: An Andy Watts Ghost Column
by Olivia York
September 29th 2022
Genres: Mystery, New Adult, Supernatural, Suspense
A terrible tragedy dead and buried. Can a young woman dig up the haunted truth without falling into madness?

Andy Watts needs a break. So when the struggling journalist is asked to revisit a fifty-year-old mystery, she jumps at the chance to move into an abandoned house and honor her long-gone mom by becoming a respected reporter. But she’s shocked when she discovers not only did a polio-stricken boy disappear from within its rooms, but his mother took a fatal tumble down the stairs.

Stonewalled by the locals and unnerved by unexplained events in the eerie home, Andy fears the town would rather bury evidence than admit one of their own could commit murder. And with the ghostly image of a youngster in leg braces persisting, she’s terrified by hints that the awful answer is calling from beyond the grave.

Can Andy deliver justice for the voiceless before she becomes the next victim?

Excerpt:
Green house stood solemnly in a noiseless field of overgrown vegetation. The dim rays of daylight disappeared in the distance beyond, darkening the front while sharpening the jagged exterior outline with a looming violet glow. It rose above the ground, perhaps two floors high, but a lack of windows at the top told Andy it may not have an attic to speak of.

The house drew her closer. The windows appeared somewhat new, the lining freshly painted white. It contrasted the worn, splintered wood on the verge of collapsing from the weight of a perched bird. At the base of the sagging stoop was the frame of a crumbling, rusted bicycle, rendered useless by the rain and condensation.

Andy climbed the front steps. Two, three, four steps upward, each one creaking an undecipherable note of an ominous melody. An unraveling front door mat read “Home” in tattered, fading letters.

This isn’t so bad.

Andy winced, unable to swallow her own lie. Quickly, she found the key in the envelope before she could change her mind and turn back. The shiny silver looked brand new compared to the decrepit bronze lock on the door. Studying the door closer, she spotted the new keyhole. A stern-looking deadbolt glinting a couple of inches above what must have been the original lock.

She pushed the door open, and the weight dragged it all the way open to gently bounce off the interior wall. Andy peered inside, but her feet stayed glued to the mat outside the door. The interior contents were fuzzy in the fading light, yet she could spot the three glinting hooks on the wall for sweaters and hats. A little deeper inside was one wing of the house, and to the right was another. In the center was a semi-carpeted staircase leading upstairs, where what followed remained unseen around the corner.

There was nothing particularly extraordinary about the home. She was no expert on houses made in the ’30s and ’40s, but it looked about how she’d expect. The ceilings were low, and the wooden floor was dull. However, Andy couldn’t help but feel something was different. That there was something in plain sight she couldn’t see. She stood motionless at the door, searching for what she thought was missing. The house stood, too, waiting patiently.

About the Author:
Olivia York writes supernatural suspense novels with family drama woven throughout (and hints of mystery). After a stint working for a local news station as reporter/anchor in the Midwest, she decided to make the switch to her imaginative side and write.

She is a lover of cats, road trips, and visiting old fashioned candy shops along the coast. Olivia lives with her husband and two cats, who are kind enough to humor her love of paranormal TV shows and never-ending collection of horror films.

Sign up for Olivia York’s Newsletter to find out about new releases, updates, cover reveals, and more!

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

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blackened Roots An Anthology of the Undead from Mocha Memoirs Press - let's make this happen!

Excuse me, this cover is awesome!
I just backed this project :)
Nontraditional zombie stories from the African diaspora
About BLACKENED ROOTS

Blackened Roots is an anthology of stories written by Black writers from all over the world featuring tales of non-traditional zombies. Think The Girl With All The Gifts, not The Walking Dead.

The anthology is co-edited by Stoker-nominated and award-winning editor and writer Nicole Givens Kurtz at Mocha Memoirs Press, and award-winning producer and editor Tonia Ransom at NIGHTLIGHT. At least three stories from the anthology will air on the NIGHTLIGHT podcast.

Blackened Roots will debut during February 2023, during Black History Month.


Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Book Review: Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young

Spells for Forgetting
by Adrienne Young
September 29, 2022
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Genre: Magical Realism, 
Coming of Age, Suspense Thrillers
ASIN: B09KXHWTFR 
ISBN: 9780593358511
Emery Blackwood’s life changed forever the night her best friend was found dead and the love of her life, August Salt, was accused of murdering her. Years later, she is doing what her teenage self swore she never would: living a quiet existence on the misty, remote shores of Saoirse Island and running the family’s business, Blackwood’s Tea Shoppe Herbal Tonics & Tea Leaf Readings. But when the island, rooted in folklore and magic, begins to show signs of strange happenings, Emery knows that something is coming. The morning she wakes to find that every single tree on Saoirse has turned color in a single night, August returns for the first time in fourteen years and unearths the past that the town has tried desperately to forget.

August knows he is not welcome on Saiorse, not after the night everything changed. As a fire raged on at the Salt family orchard, Lily Morgan was found dead in the dark woods, shaking the bedrock of their tight-knit community and branding August a murderer. When he returns to bury his mother’s ashes, he must confront the people who turned their backs on him and face the one wound from his past that has never healed—Emery. But the town has more than one reason to want August gone, and the emergence of deep betrayals and hidden promises spanning generations threaten to reveal the truth behind Lily’s mysterious death once and for all.

Emory Blackwood lives on Saoirse Island, where she owns the family business Blackwood’s Tea Shoppe Herbal Tonics and Tea Leaf Readings. Years ago, she planned to leave with the boy she loved, August Salt, when he left for college. Instead, August had been accused of murdering her best friend, Lily, and he left. Now he has returned, drawn back by her and maybe even the island. It is said that those who leave are always drawn back by the island’s magic. But it seems that there are those in town who want him gone, maybe this time for good.

Not just a tense mystery or thriller, this is also a paranormal/dark fantasy and romance. There are magic-spell using families that have lived on the island for centuries. The novel kept me hooked until I finished it one night. If this is your kind of cup of tea, you won’t need to read the tea leaves to enjoy the story.

I gave Spells for Forgetting 4 1/2 sheep.





Reviewed by Pamela K. Kinney

About the Author:
Adrienne Young is the New York Times, USA Today, and Indie list bestselling author of the Fable duology and the Sky in the Deep duology. She is a foodie with a deep love of history and travel and a shameless addiction to coffee. When she’s not writing, you can find her on her yoga mat, sipping wine over long dinners or disappearing into her favorite art museums. She lives with her documentary filmmaker husband and their four little wildlings in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Cover Reveal: In the Shadow of a Hoax (Fareview Fairytales, #2) by Maci Aurora

In the Shadow of a Hoax 
(Fareview Fairytales, #2)
by Maci Aurora
Publication date: January 24th 2023
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance
In the Kingdom of Kaloma, a woman is forced to rely on a man to “keep her” and is forbidden from maintaining anything of her own. It’s the law.

In the remote village of Sevens, at the northernmost point of the kingdom, there lives a family with four daughters and a son, toiling day in and day out together, hopeful a treaty with the boarding kingdom of Jast might change things.

When one daughter—at risk of being imprisoned for fighting back—hides away in the Whitling Woods. She stumbles upon a dying man and despite the risk to herself, chooses to save him. Only who he is has the power to change everything…

Tarley Fareview, idealistic and stubborn, does what she can to support herself in spite of an unjust Kaloma law. When she fights back after being attacked, she flees into the woods disguised as a boy. While in hiding, she discovers a dying man and must decide if she risks her life to save him. Unable to walk away, Tarley chooses to intervene and works to save the stranger, only little does she know that by doing so she’ll also risk the heart she promised herself she’d never give to anyone.

When the Crown Prince of Jast, Lachlan Nikolas—forced by the king to attend treaty negotiations with the kingdom of Kaloma in disguise—is attacked, his horse bolts, and they both careen over a cliff, falling to their deaths in a raging river below. Only, miracle of miracles, Lachlan doesn’t perish, and instead is given a second chance at life, but at a price. When he wakes, he’s not only been stripped of his clothes but also his identity. Saved by a strange woman—in a terrible disguise because she looks nothing like a boy—Lachlan must learn very quickly how to survive in a world where he isn’t a prince anymore and with zero skills other than his entitlement and his charm. Unsure who to trust, Lachlan must reinvent himself, learn how to survive, open his heart to discover the truth about worthiness, and discover what it means to sacrifice one’s self for true love.




About the Author:
Romance author.

Lover of stories.

Maci Aurora has been writing stories since she was a child. When she was eleven, she fell in love with reading Sunfire Historical Romances about girls who made a difference in their lives and still fell in love. In high school, a friend introduced her to Lavyrle Spencer and Judith McNaught, and from there, her writing journey was cemented in telling stories about love. Having already published many novels (all of which are threaded with romance as upper YA and New Adult titles) under the pen name, CL Walters, Maci Aurora wanted to write stories that offered the same attention to story and characters but with additional steam.

Maci writes in Hawaiʻi where she lives with her husband, their children, and their fur-babies.

Comic Review: Bloodshot Unleashed #1 from Valiant Comics

September 21, 2022
Writer: Deniz Camp
Artist: Jon Davis-Hunt
Cover Artist: Jon Davis-Hunt, Nicole Rifkin, Pete Woods, Gerardo Zaffino
Valiant Comics
Rating: M
Pages: 32
Dangerous super soldiers and bloodthirsty living weapons have mysteriously escaped into the world to wreak havoc across the dying towns and forgotten farms of America. Now, Bloodshot must take up arms again to travel across the country hunting down these violent monsters, battling his own demons, and defending the most defenseless. Deniz Camp (Agent of W.O.R.L.D.E.) and Jon Davis-Hunt (SHADOWMAN) join forces to unleash Valiant Entertainment’s first Mature Readers title that puts the BLOOD in BLOODSHOT.

Wow. Bloodshot the character has been around a long time and there have been many revamped storylines. But Valiant Comics has taken it in a new direction with a Mature rating. This is Valiant's first Mature comic. Bloodshot has been a Teen rated comic up until now.

The Mature rating lets the writers and artists explore a new side of Bloodshot. And this first issue has blown me away. It is an emotional gut punch and a triumph for the writers and artists.

The first scene (four pages) is an amazing story setup. Warning, the comic addresses suicide and military PTSD in a brutal fashion. Bloodshot is basically immortal. The nanites in his blood rebuild him almost instantly. This allows the writers to explore character situations they might not otherwise be able to.

Bloodshot Unleased #1 runs in two timelines. A THEN and NOW. You get Bloodshot doing what he does best...killing the bad guy is true action bad-assery fans are used to. But it switches between that and his broken human side and the effects war and life events have had on him.

Truly a storytelling masterpiece from start to finish!

5 "Fireworks in my head" Sheep





SharonS

Sunday, September 25, 2022

Watch NASA's First-Ever Attempt at Deflecting an Asteroid! tonight! 🪐🚀

YES! It is like a sci-fi movie plot but for real!
Illustration of NASA's DART spacecraft prior to impact with the Didymos binary system. (Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab)

In just a few days, you can watch live as NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) deliberately crashes into a faraway asteroid.

DART is humanity’s first attempt to change the motion of an asteroid in space by intentionally crashing a spacecraft into it. DART’s target asteroid is not a threat to Earth but is the perfect testing ground to see if this method of asteroid deflection – known as the kinetic impactor technique – would be a viable way to protect our planet if an asteroid on a collision course with Earth were discovered in the future.

DART will impact its target asteroid, Dimorphos, a small moonlet orbiting a larger asteroid by the name of Didymos, at 7:14 p.m. EDT on Monday, September 26.

Tune in for our live broadcast coverage of DART’s impact with Dimorphos starting Monday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m. EDT on NASA TV, the agency’s website, and on Facebook, Twitter, or  YouTube. You can also watch a live feed from DART's camera instrument, DRACO, in the moments leading up to impact.

Schedule for the event
Monday, Sept. 26

3:30 p.m. (approximately) – NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 arrival at the agency's Kennedy Space Center
4:30 p.m. (approximately) – NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 Flight Readiness Review media teleconference
5:30 p.m. – Watch a live feed from NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft (Streaming on NASA TV's media channel)
6 p.m. – Live coverage begins for NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) impact with the asteroid Dimorphos (Impact targeted for 7:14 p.m.)
8 p.m. – NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) post-impact press briefing

Saturday, September 24, 2022

Excerpt: Autumn of the Grimoire (Sisters Solstice Series #1) by J.L. Vampa + giveaway

 We are celebrating the official release of the highly anticipated novel by J.L. Vampa, Autumn of the Grimoire and we're thrilled to be part of the launch! Read on for more details and a chance to win a fantastic giveaway!

Autumn of the Grimoire (Sisters Solstice Series #1)
by J.L. Vampa
September 22, 2022
Genre: Gothic Fantasy/ Dark Fantasy Romance
Publisher: Phantom House Press
Some witches cast spells. Others slay kings.

A mysterious Grimoire. A marriage full of dark secrets. A History sculpted by a quartet of ancient Sister witches.

For three hundred years, Sister Autumn has incited wars, burnt villages, killed kings, and released plagues at the bidding of the Grimoire. Meanwhile, her Sister Winter, Sister Spring, and Sister Summer have brought forth only peace.

When an Order from the Grimoire sends Agatha to the Kingdom of Merveille, she already anticipates the worst. Unless she wants to face the wrath of the Goddess, Agatha must keep her head down and do as she’s commanded.

But when the Grimoire Orders her to marry a pompous prince and play the role of a peasant “accepted” by vicious aristocrats, she finds herself at the center of a war between the classes and an age-old prophecy.

Within the court, many players harbor dark secrets—including her new husband. With her newfound influence, Agatha joins forces with the city’s Blacklisted in order to blur the lines between the common man and the elite, unravel the mysteries in her marriage, and decide once and for all if she will defy the Grimoire and face the brutal consequences.

As secrets unfold, will Agatha continue to slay on behalf of the Grimoire, or forge an uncharted History with her unlikely allies?
Add to Goodreads

Teaser
The gargantuan doors closed with an ominous clank and Prince Thackery stalked toward her, stopping only a stride away. “How dare you stand there and deign to say nothing?” he ground out.

Her nerves bent a knee to her fury at his unexpected outburst. Agatha let a spiteful smile adorn her lips. “And what would you have me do, then? Throw myself at your feet and argue that I am worthy to be your bride?” Surprise flashed across the prince’s face at her gall, but he swiftly shoved it away. She swung an arm out wide. “Or would you have me faint upon the chaise because of my utter fortune to be your betrothed?” She took a step closer to him. “Because I will do neither of those things.”

His lip curled. “A bit bold for a peasant, aren't we?” Agatha cursed her cheeks for heating. Perhaps she was a fool not to play the part of a meek little mouse, but she couldn’t stop the storm of rage bubbling up inside of her. “I do not wish to marry you any more than you wish to marry me.” A muscle in the prince’s jaw flexed. “Then help me fight this madness! Deny the proposal that has been asked without my will.” Agatha snickered. “And risk the loss of my head at the hands of our darling Crown?” She crossed her arms at her chest, matching the prince’s stance. “I think not.”

©JL VAMPA

About the Author

Website-Instagram-Twitter
Wicked Whimsy Boutique
J.L. Vampa’s four-book New Adult Fantasy series, SISTERS SOLSTICE, will begin on September 22, 2022. Jane Lenore (J.L.) Vampa is a published author of Dark Fantasy and Victorian Gothic fiction. J.L. also owns a macabre-style bookish shop, Wicked Whimsy Boutique. She lives in Texas with her musician husband and their two littles who are just as peculiar as they are.

Twitter: @VampaJl @RRBookTours1 #RRBookTours #AOTG

IG: @jlvampa @rrbooktours #rrbooktours #AOTG #AutumnoftheGrimoire #SistersSolsticeSeries

Book Tour Schedule
September 19th
R&R Book Tours (Kick-Off) http://rrbooktours.com
Reads & Reels (Spotlight) http://readsandreels.com
September 20th
@evelovesbooks_travel_art (Review) https://www.instagram.com/evelovesbooks_travel_art/
September 21st
@ems_literarycorner (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/ems_literarycorner/
September 22nd
September 23rd
@haunted.by.candlelight (Review) https://www.instagram.com/haunted.by.candlelight/
Gwendalyn’s Books (Blog) https://gwendalynbooks.blog/
@bookishly_kenia (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/bookishly_kenia/

Visit one of our Bookstagrammers for a chance to win a physical copy of the book and a $25 Wicked Whimsy Boutique gift card!

Book Tour Organized By:

Friday, September 23, 2022

Check out the psychological fantasy narrative poetry of Jazalyn

A supernatural paranormal romance poetic novel of mystical and spiritual time travel, epitome of confessional metaphysical and existential love that is seen in space opera.

Hollow: A Love Like A Life
by Jazalyn
Genre: Epic Poetry, Contemporary Poetry, Paranormal Ghost Romance
A ghost spirit of dark's universe falls in love with a ghost spirit of light's universe, and while They cannot meet, for They wander around separate realms and spacetimes, They live Their love through a secret and sacred interaction.

They are light years APART.
But there is INVISIBLE possession.
A precious NEED bridges the range.

A SECRET LANGUAGE.
A SACRED ENERGY.

A distant BOND is created.
An EVOLUTION of the SOULS.
Will they ever MEET for REAL?
And in what FORM?

A supernatural paranormal romance poetic novel of mystical and spiritual time travel, epitome of confessional metaphysical and existential love that is seen in space opera.

I prefer the dark
And often I cry
But is it so sad?

You prefer the light
And you smile
But are you happy?

Our eyes see
Different things
But our thoughts
Are aligned

And I’m wondering
Why I love you
When we can’t live
The same life


Author talks about her book
When one falls in love wants to live the feeling, but what happens if reality doesn't favor it? Can there be long-lasting and effective romance without possession and even without any previous introduction? In Jazalyn's supernatural paranormal fantasy romance "Hollow: A Love Like A Life", the lovers transform into ghosts, their love transcends the physical dimension and becomes spiritual in order to be experienced.

Jazalyn is a progressive author-poet of magical realism and surrealism. Her style is a new proposition for literature. Her main goal is the audience to relate, so she sacrifices her own self in first, second and third person expressions for the sake of art.

In "Hollow", the in-love ghost spirits talk to each other through an abyssal realm and who tells what to whom is left for the reader to identify which creates a mystery and a romantic suspense.

They use a secret language that only their soul can decode and they paradoxically gain sacred energy which provides them with strength and courage to live more sustainably.

The one ghost spirit belongs in light's universe and the other ghost spirit belongs in the dark's universe. The two absolute opposites. One of the two has to make the sacrifice to reach the other. But there's fear of the unknown. So they build their own medium which creates a silent romance.

The plot: "Two ghost spirits live their love despite being in different universes, in light’s and in dark’s, through secret language filling them sacred energy."

You fall in love with someone when you live something with them either directly or indirectly. So love is life. You are born from love. So life is love. In Jazalyn's "Hollow: A Love Like A Life" poetic novel, the love is like life and the life is like love. Because there are obstacles and unusual circumstances. The most important ones are location and way of life. But still somehow the feelings are preserved and defy the laws of nature.

Jazalyn aims to revolutionize poetry with a mixture with prose fiction and combined genres of literature. She has attracted enormous attention on social media where she shares evergreen verses from her sophisticated books and her riddling short stories.

A dark fantasy magical realism poetic novel that endures urban social issues and inequality, and challenges self esteem, self help, self improvement, self development, healing.

by Jazalyn 
A socially underprivileged rose witnesses unpleasant events and behaviors that threaten Her inner peace and is determined to set life and love aside in order to find Her true, pure and moral parts of character.

30 petals of MOOD and STATUS.

A society full of INJUSTICES and UNFAIRNESS.

A ROLE She doesn't want to play.

A RAGE. A RAVE.
A PAST that leads to HATE.
A RARE SOUL.
A wishful CHANGE of HEART.
She AROSE and She ROSE.
From IGNORANCE to STRENGTH.
A FUTURE that should lead to LOVE.

But can there be LOVE?

A dark fantasy magical realism poetic novel that endures urban social issues and inequality, and challenges self esteem, self help, self improvement, self development, healing.

I never knew how to have
I've learned to live without love
And I can't change all of a sudden
Something's got to happen

Author talks about her book
What would the flower rose say if it could speak? A rose that's suffering from bad treatment and observations tries to overcome a past of hate to become the heart that belongs in a future of love in Jazalyn's psychological urban fantasy, dark romance poetry novel "Rose: Future Heart" that urges for change, self-esteem, self-help, healing, self-improvement, self-love, self-compassion, self-development.

Jazalyn is a progressive author-poet of surrealism and magical realism. Her style is unique and surfaces the subconscious. Her expressions in first, second and third person are not necessarily her endorsements but an artistic style of audience relation.

A rose is a beautiful and popular flower associated with the feelings of love. It is famously gifted from partner to partner single or in a bouquet. Sometimes rose petals are used in romantic scenes. Jazalyn's poetic novel is a contrasting irony to this tradition. The protagonist becomes a rose whose petals are fighting negativity and the only way to reach positivity is isolation.

Instead of endorsing love the rose disapproves it to highlight its decay that renders useless and unnecessary loving moments that in a later time lead to misfortune. The star rose has been heartbroken from temporary romance that transforms into evil, and from social bullying. She wants to realize there is no truth and that she must avoid the trap of being fooled again not only in romance but also by all other traps of life. So she isolates herself from any kind of living to reconsider situations and find the self she wants to reflect.

The plot: "A mentally and physically tortured rose is trying through introversion to avoid society’s violence so as to retain her true, pure and moral character. The rare rose strives to turn a blurry past into a bright future".

Every change is difficult and needs a process and time. This book is the process. The past was what it was, but it is gone and doesn't help anyone to be reminded because if it's unpleasant it is inevitable to lead to hate something that only makes things worse. The future should not be hate. The future will not repeat the same mistakes. And ideally the future should be filled with love, but another kind of love not erotic love. A love that evolves everyone in the best directions and makes all dreams come true.

Gradually, the rose gets relieved from all the pain that enraged her and forced her to rave and takes the initiative to lead a new life that will wake her up towards a better quality of lifestyle. The rose realized that love is not real but a delusion, and rather than an ally to happiness it is actually an obstacle, so she refrains from answering love's calls in order to focus on what really matters in life, a path she could have followed sooner but missed due to an unavoidable backstreet influence from an unjust and unfair society. She lost valuable time in ignorance but now she wishes to find the courage to continue undisturbed in better routes.

Jazalyn combines poetry with prose to embrace contemporary and modern ways of literature. She has had success on social media with her poem excerpts and poetic short stories.
More details in her official website: jazalyn.art

"Rose: Future Heart" is available in all big online book stores globally.

A post-apocalyptic techno thriller poetic novel that emulates psychological reactions of a serious medical and technological global emergency and provides philosophical insights on the world's best direction.

by Jazalyn 
Three robotic viruses are released from unknown forces and compete with each other exposing crimes, with humanity’s scale of existence oscillating between total destruction and reinventing recovery.

A REVELATION of the THOUGHTS.

An AWAKENING for the HIDDEN reality.

A MADNESS pandemic.

A WAR of ESPIONAGE.

Whose VIRUS is which?

Is it too late for reinstating?

The PANIC button pushed.

An attempt to erase the MEMORIES.

Can an EVIL virus SAVE the world?

A post-apocalyptic techno thriller poetic novel that emulates psychological reactions of a serious medical and technological global emergency and provides philosophical insights on the world's best direction.

It's unfair
To be guilty
When no one
Is innocent

Author talks about her book
Can there be viruses that cause madness or save the world instead of infecting traditionally? There can be. In Jazalyn's apocalyptic techno thriller poetry novel "vViIrRuUsS: I Never Forget" related with the genres: war fiction, historical fiction, psychological fantasy, survival fiction, medical thriller, crime fiction, philosophical fantasy, dystopia, science fiction.

Jazalyn is a controversially progressive surreal author-poet that communicates all the angles of a story without necessarily endorsing a single point of view and everything she mediates in the first, second or third person.

In her latest poetic novel "vViIrRuUsS", advanced robotic nanotechnology hacks people's bodies and makes them vulnerable revealing truths and lies which affects their psychological state. Everyone is in danger, but also everyone can be dangerous. A discovery exposes the one thing in common: they are all guilty.

People acquire a turbulent mental state and start accuse one another but not because they are truly hurt or care for the common good, it's fear someone else will rush to accuse themselves so they kind of try to beat any outcry against them. They don't see their own flaws but the others' flaws and condemn to feel better about themselves. To pass the message that they are against criminal acts so as no one to believe they are themselves criminals when someone else accuses them either with the truth or with deceit.

The plot: "Various viruses expose pasts, thoughts, memories, crimes, undisclosed secrets and the true reality, and cause madness. Who is guilty? Who is innocent?"

Jazalyn explores a world where there is no innocence or guilt which renders every conviction as unfairness since others continue to live freely and innocently for the same crime that went unnoticed or was covered somehow. It's all subjective interpretations and opposite views can all be true depending on each observer's interests. The belief systems are not examining all possibilities and therefore are not objective but akin to what secures individuals peace of mind and what satisfies their status in each period of time.

It's not one person's experience that the book narrates. These are scattered thoughts and dialogues as monologues from multiple sources. Jazalyn creates an atmospherical plot around a collection of poems-puzzles of a series of unfortunate events. The poetic narration is subject to all imaginations. There is a mystery and suspense that lets the reader wonder what's going on and imagine all possible scenarios of past, present and future outcomes.

The dystopian poems expose the pain that is rooted in an unhealthy logic which instead of focusing on the future is relying on the past conspiring and inventing ways how to destroy others to rise while the ethical job is to forget everything and everyone and work hard forwards so as to gain the fair way.

The title "vViIrRuUsS" depicts the name of the virus that attempts to help everyone recover. The subtitle "I Never Forget" is a phrase indicating that viruses surface memories which once remembered are difficult to be forgotten and neglected.

Jazalyn introduces new ways of writing and doing literature combining poetry with prose in abstract and absurd settings. She is popular on social media where she shares verses from her books and short stories.

You can find out more in her official website: jazalyn.art

About the Author
With millions of impressions, half million engagements and 30,000 followers in social media, Jazalyn is among the most-promising newcomer authors-poets.

Her books have sold in 4 Continents and have been featured on prominent lists on Amazon US, Amazon UK and Amazon AU. Soon she will expand in every corner of the Earth.

Jazalyn attracts all cultures and traditions with an audience from all walks and stages of life as a consequence of the universal atmosphere that encircles her themes.

Her innovative and versatile writing style stemming from abstraction and absurdness captivates mystery and suspense with words swimming in surrealism and magical realism.

Her imaginative and inventive narration unites the philosophical with the psychological and the scientific elements of both fantasy and fiction that create and solve riddles and puzzles.

In what results as a contemporary genre of cinematic (epic) poetry in slice of life-vignette expression which provokes thinking and eyes new horizons.

Jazalyn's art is purposely colorful, geometrical and fashionable in its totality to match the aesthetics of a qualitative artfulness which expands the consciousness of an enlightenment painted in a kind of mysticism and spirituality that knows no boundaries.

Her latest books vViIrRuUsS, Rose, Hollow signify Jazalyn's transition towards literary magnificence.

Thursday, September 22, 2022

Excerpt: A Kingdom of Flame and Fury (The Four Kingdoms #1) by Whitney Dean + giveaway

I am so excited to share A Kingdom of Flame and Fury with you all today! Read on for an exclusive excerpt and a chance to win a signed copy of the book!

A Kingdom of Flame and Fury (The Four Kingdoms #1)
by Whitney Dean
May 26th, 2022
Genre: Dark Fantasy/ Dark Romantasy
At ten years old, Raven was mysteriously willed to be the next ruler of Seolia, a kingdom nestled within the realm of The Four Kingdoms. Orphaned as a baby, she has spent fifteen years ruling over a kingdom she believes she did not earn all while hiding secrets: she possesses dark magic and she thirsts for blood. Now at almost twenty-five years old and with a sudden addiction to stealing life, Raven must fight through her new procured darkness to save her soul, but when a mysterious stranger arrives in her kingdom, she starts experiencing vivid dreams that detail who she truly is. As she slowly starts to unravel her story, what she uncovers at the end of the spool will change the course of her life and her kingdom forever.

A Kingdom of Flame and Fury is book one in a steamy and thrilling new fantasy series: The Four Kingdoms

This is book one of an epic dark fantasy adventure series and contains scenes of graphic and mature content. Reader discretion is advised.

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Excerpt
I was quiet for a while. Five drinks in and the thick liquid was replacing my blood. “I think I’m in love.” My words were slurred as they tumbled out. “She has purple hair.” Her hair was black, but I saw it when it was purple, and it looked so real.

Arthur chuckled as he cleaned out a glass left by another patron.

“Are soul mates real?” I had never believed in them, having spent at least fifteen years fucking my way through the female population of three of the four kingdoms. Nothing I felt ever resembled love. Or like. More like tolerance.

“Soul mates and twin flames are rare, and they’re both destined to be together.” He leaned his forearms down against the bar top and looked at me. “I think my wife was mine. I never looked at another woman like I saw her. It was something else.”

“What’s the difference between soul mates and twin flames?”

Arthur smiled at me, probably because he couldn’t understand what I said as I tipped back my sixth glass of rum. “Soul mates can be anyone. A friend, a lover, someone you met briefly.”

Raven wasn’t anyone.

“Twin flames are two halves of one soul. There’s an intense connection that can’t be replicated. There’s pain associated with flames, both people mirroring one another. When you find your twin, you can’t be apart from them without going a little mad.”

Mad, as in getting drunk in a pub mid-afternoon because I couldn’t be with her? If so, I was mad.

“How do you know so much about them?” He didn’t seem like the type who would believe in things like this. I didn’t think I could ever be one, either. Yet, here I was, getting wasted in a pub because I was wholly convinced that purple-haired demon was meant to be in my life.

“My wife did,” he answered. “She read often. A lot about how magic used to live in our realm. Mates and flames are a rarity, and they used to be treasured. When they existed, there would be celebrations for days. At least, that’s what her books used to tell her. I haven’t met any, nor have there been any pairings in a very long time. It always intrigued her, so she’d sit on one of these stools every night and tell me about them, or anything else she read.” There was a sadness in his voice as he recalled time spent with his wife, whom I assumed he lost. “Do you think your girl with purple hair may be one of those to you?”

I swished the rum around in my glass as I thought about his question through my unfocused mind, laden with alcohol. “Twin flame,” I said. “I think she’s my twin flame.”

And if they were such a rarity, I was determined to do nothing but treasure her.

A Kingdom of Frost and Fear 
is Now Available for Pre-Order


About the Author

Whitney was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas and raised in Allen, Texas. She resides in a quaint little town in Arkansas with her husband and two children, along with her labradoodle, Simba.

Her love of reading came from the Harry Potter series when she was seven years old, and frequent trips to the most magical place on earth. Because of it, the fantasy realm has taken up residence in her brain for a very long time.

While her writings include real-life pain and angst, she is a fan of happily-ever-after's and always strives to bring that forth in her stories.

Twitter: @RRBookTours1 #RRBookTours #Books #AKOFAF

IG: @authorwhitneydean @rrbooktours #rrbooktours #akofaf #akingdomofflameandfury #thefourkingdoms #darkfantasybooks #darkromance #romantasy

Book Tour Schedule
September 19th
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September 20th
Gwedalyn’s Books (Review) https://gwendalynbooks.wordpress.com/
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Liliyana Shadowlyn (Review) https://lshadowlynauthor.com/
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September 21st
Jessica Belmont (Review) https://jessicabelmont.com/
September 22nd
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Breakeven Books (Spotlight) https://breakevenbooks.com
Freelance Writer, Janny C (Spotlight) https://freelancewriterjannyc.com/
September 23rd
I Smell Sheep (Spotlight) http://www.ismellsheep.com/
Latisha’s Low-Key Life (Review) https://latishaslowkeylife.com/
Rambling Mads (Review) http://ramblingmads.com
@gryffindorbookishnerd (Review) https://www.instagram.com/gryffindorbookishnerd/
Sophril Reads (Spotlight) http://sophrilreads.wordpress.com


Giveaway: 
Signed Copy of A Kingdom of Flame and Fury (US Only)

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