Cover Reveal and Excerpt: Patrick’s Story: Brothers of Darkness (Amaranthine Book 0) By Joleene Naylor

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Patrick’s Story: Brothers of Darkness (Amaranthine Book 0)
By Joleene Naylor
Release Date: 10-11-16
Genre: Horror/Paranormal
“Not a love story…a dark spiral into blackness.”

“If you’ve read Shades of Gray, you know how this has to end.”

The prequel to Shades of Gray tells the story of Patrick and Michael, how they got tangled into Claudius’ web, and their valiant fight to escape.

When Patrick’s missing brother Michael returns, he brings with him a world of darkness. Turned into a vampire against his will, Michael is the coven’s whipping boy. When Patrick tries to help, he’s claimed as a slave who spends his weekends preparing victims, scooping ashes, and falling prey to the vampire’s twisted desires.

There’s only so much hell he can take, and when vampires from a warring coven offer sanctuary in exchange for cooperation, Patrick quickly agrees. What he expected to be a few months drags out into a long smear of nightmares, and though he fights for hope and freedom, the cost of victory may be more than he bargained for.

You can preorder Patrick’s Story: Brothers of Darkness from Amazon for the special price of 2.99

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Shades of Gray (Amaranthine Book 1) is FREE

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Excerpt:

The park was eerie in the dark. The hulking jungle gym sat like a crouched monster waiting to spring, and the swing set’s long shadows were tendrils of evil that snaked towards Patrick and Michael as they leaned on the teeter-totter.

The snow slowed, then stopped. Patrick scuffled his feet in the drifts and counted off the seconds. How long would it take a vampire to find them?

And why in the hell do we want him to?

Michael’s shoulders suddenly went stiff and Patrick followed his gaze. At first, he saw only darkness, then, just like last time, the guy materialized from the shadows.

“You’re looking for me?”

Michael narrowed his eyes. “You’re the mind reader, you tell me.”

Without hesitation, the vampire asked sharply, “Why should I help you?”

Michael grabbed his brother’s arm. “Come on, Pat. I told you this was a fuckin’ waste of time.”

Before they could move, the mysterious man replied, “I didn’t say I wouldn’t help, only asked why I should.”

Patrick nodded hopefully. If the vampires were half as terrifying as this guy, there was no way they could deal with them alone. They needed someone who could help them and, though he couldn’t say why, he was sure this was the guy for the job. Maybe because he scares the shit outta me. “Hang on, Mikey. Let’s give him a chance.”

Michael glared at the vampire. “Why? We don’t even know who he is!”

“Does it matter?” Patrick asked desperately.

“He knows who we are!”

The man all but rolled his eyes. “My name is Jorick. What do you want from me?”

Patrick answered quickly, “He needs help to get away from Claudius.”

Jorick studied them. The moments stretched thin and taut, heavy with the oppressive winter atmosphere. Finally he said, “Let me speak to my associate. We might be able to do something. Return here in five days.”

Then he disappeared.

About the Author:
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News and Updates
Joleene Naylor is the author of the glitter-less Amaranthine vampire series, a world where vampires aren't for children. As a compliment to the novel series, she has also written several short stories, including the Vampire Morsels collection.

In her spare time, Joleene is a freelance book cover designer and for-fun photographer . She maintains several blogs full of odd ramblings, and occasionally updates her website at JoleeneNaylor.com. In what little time is left she watches anime and pins recipes and DIY, all from a crooked Victorian house in Villisca, Iowa. Between her husband and her pets, she is never lonely, and should she ever disappear one might look for her on a beach in Tahiti, sipping a tropical drink and wearing a disguise.

She currently has several books available for purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple and Smashwords.

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To read sample chapters and more, visit my website!

http://www.JoleeneNaylor.com

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Release Day Character post: Children of Shadows by Joleene Naylor + giveaway

It’s nice to be back here at I Smell Sheep. As you can see, we’re hanging out in the living room of the Amaranthine character complex. It’s like a huge, imaginary house where all the Amaranthine characters live.

Livingroom.jpg (photo credit: Danilo Nunez Jr via Flickr -  )

Today Children of Shadows, the sixth book in my paranormal series, is finally released. To celebrate I wanted to do something really special for my characters. They’ve put up with a lot from me. I’ve killed some of them, tortured others, and made more than one express their “feelings”. That kind of stuff can really get to them after a while.

Oh, I think I hear our protagonist, Katelina, and her vampire boyfriend Jorick approaching. Quick, let’s hide so we can hear how grateful they are!

~~~~~~

Katelina: *looks around*What’s this? *picks up the letter from the coffee table* Looks like our wonderful author has gotten us some movies and popcorn as a reward for all the crap she’s done to us. Joy.
Jorick: A better reward would be writing lessons for her. *pokes the bag of microwaved popcorn* She does remember that vampires don’t eat?

Katelina: I guess it’s all for me, then. Oh great! It’s low fat. Who buys low fat microwave popcorn?

Author’s note: The low fat popcorn was on sale. I’m not made of money. Oh look, there’s Verchiel, the vampire Jorick loves to hate.

Verchiel: Hello, lovelies! What’s this message to come to the – Oh! Popcorn. Are there movies, too?
Katelina: *waves letter* Apparently our author felt we didn’t deserve to go to a real theater because we’re, and I quote, “motley”, so she rented some DVDs for us.
Verchiel: *grabs the stack*Let’s see. There’s Kung Fu Rabbit, A Case of You, Two Brothers/Flipper Double Feature, and Venom.
Katelina: My God. She had all the DVDs in the world to pick from and that’s our selection?

Author’s Note: No, I had a handful of choices in Redbox. It’s a Saturday. There’s not much left.

Jorick: Who or what is Kung Fu Rabbit?

Verchiel: *pulls out his smart phone* Let’s google these bad boys and see what they are. Okay. Kung Fu Rabbit is a cuddly rabbit who think s with his tummy and… eh, it looks like a Kung Fu Panda rip-off.
Jorick: I have no idea what that is.

Verchiel: A Case of You is a chick flick where some guy pretends to be something he’s not to land the girl. Flipper is self-explanatory feel-good-family-time, and Two Brothers is the same, but with tiger cubs. And Venom… Ohhh! Snake bite, desert, desperate dash for salvation. I think we have a winner!
Jorick: *growls at Verchiel with his best, dark, menacing expression* No. No snakes. No chick flicks. Now, what exactly is Flipper?

Katelina: Are you serious? What, are we ten now?
Verchiel: It’s Flipper. Like the TV show about the dolphin. *sings* “They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning, No one you see, is smarter than he!”
Jorick: *covers ears* For the love of all that’s holy stop!

Verchiel: Just trying to help.
Katelina: No animal movies, and no snakes. Ugh. I hate snakes.
Jorick: No chick flick.

Verchiel: Um, you guys are aware that that leaves us with Kung Fu Rabbit, right?
Katelina: Just put the chick movie on!
Jorick: I am not watching a movie about a man who is so pathetic he has to lie to get the woman of his dreams. If he can’t win her by being himself then either she’s a vapid, shallow shrew who’s unworthy of his attention, or else he’s a sad, pathetic creature who doesn’t have any redeeming qualities for her to love. I fail to see how that can be entertaining.

Katelina: Because that’s not the story! It’s just that he lacks self confidence in who he really is, and in the end she’ll come to love him for his true self, yadda, yadda, and everyone learns the valuable lesson that being yourself is best because you are really a worthwhile and interesting individual. That’s how they always end.
Jorick: Why watch it if you know the end?

Verchiel: I’m with Jorick. Let’s watch the snakes chasing the mom and the little girl through the desert.
Jorick: No. I’d rather... I think...Maybe the dolphin...The tigers…No. We’re not going to watch anything.

Katelina & Verchiel: What?

Jorick: We don’t have time to waste on this crap. We have to appear in other guest posts for the rest of this God forsaken tour, and one hopes our horrible author will work on the next book soon.

Verchiel: Whoa! Slow down. This is our book release celebration! There’s no need to worry about the next book already.
Jorick: It beats this crap. *points to DVDs*

Author’s note: Pssst! I’ve had it. You might want to stay low, but I’m through hiding! *leaps out from behind furniture* Characters! It is I, your amazing author! I took the time to think of this nice reward for you, and what do I hear? Bitching, griping, complaining! Well, that’s it. I’m taking it back. *grabs popcorn and DVDs* If you don’t want to watch them, then I’ll be more than happy to. Except this one. *tosses the chick flick to Katelina* It’s all yours. And now, I’m leaving.

*Strides out*

Verchiel: Well, that was uncomfortable.
Jorick: more like irritating. Come on Katelina.

Katelina: Actually, I think I’m gonna watch the movie.
Verchiel: I’ll watch it with-
Jorick: *grabs Verchiel* Oh no, you won’t. You’re going to stay as far away from Katelina as possible until our crappy author forces you to be near her, and even then you’re going to back off. Got it?

*Jorick drags Verchiel away. Alone, Katelina pops the DVD in and gets comfy on the couch*

Katelina: *sighs* I hope the rest of the book release is better than this.

~~~~~~

The sixth installment of the Amaranthine series pulsates with the dark blood of vampire lore.

The Children of Shadows, a vampire cult not seen for hundreds of years, resurfaces to wage war on the vampire guilds. Led by a familiar face, the cult wreaks havoc while Katelina and Jorick are trapped in Munich. Ume, a mysterious vampiress, claims to know Verchiel and offers the help of her secret organization. But can they trust her?

As mysteries are solved, new ones appear. Why have the Children of Shadows returned, and is it really a former ally that leads them, or a look-alike?

Legends rise and secrets are revealed in a world where vampires walk, drenched in blood and shadows.

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About the Author:

website-FB-pinterest-blog

Joleene Naylor grew up in southwest Iowa surrounded by soybeans, corn and very little entertainment – so she made her own. She has been writing and drawing since she was a small child, with a particular leaning towards fantasy, horror and paranormal. It is this love of all that goes bump in the night that led her to write the Amaranthine series.

In her spare time she is a freelance artist, book cover designer and photographer. Joleene maintains blogs full of odd ramblings and hopes to win the lottery. Until she does, she and her husband live near Bolivar Missouri with their miniature zoo. However, unless she starts buying tickets she won’t win anything.

Character Confession: Jorick (Joleene Naylor) + giveaway

One of my vampire book boyfriends is visiting today! *squeee*. I don't care that he is condescending, arrogant and a bit fussy. I love him! 

Character Confession – erm... argument

Jorick: Greetings… sheep? Is that a sheep? As in a furry, wool producing animal? Never mind, it doesn't matter. Why wouldn’t you be a sheep? It makes as much sense as anything else my crazy author has thrown me into!

I apologize for my outburst. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jorick and I’m a helpless victim in Joleene Naylor’s Amaranthine series. She’s been abusing me for five books (six if you count her short story collection and seven if you include the unreleased prequel). How much can one vampire take before he snaps? How many times can I be irritated by an idiot, thwarted by some ridiculous twist or lose someone I love before it’s too much and I go over the edge?

That was a rhetorical question. *takes a deep breath* to be fair to that menace of an author, she’s gotten a little better. She hasn't tried to kill my mate, Katelina, for at least two books. Though no doubt she has something spectacular planned for the next novel. And of course there will be another one because she can’t just let us be in peace. No! That would be too easy!

*Jo cuts in.* Ahem. I hate to interrupt your rant, but would you rather I just leave your story hanging? Heart of the Raven was a good book, but there’s some unresolved issues.

Jorick: It’s hardly unresolved. We’re heading back to Munich, and then to the beach and then home. End of story.

Jo: *snickers* Hardly. What about Malick? And what about that little mess you guys made at the temple? You know who I’m talking about. You’re planning to just leave that running around the world?

Jorick: Yes, actually. It’s not my responsibility. I’ve been the head of the vampire-world-defense league long enough. Someone else can do it.

Jo: You’ve never been the head of anything, let alone a world-defense league. Everything you’ve done, you’ve done because you’re nosey and you can’t stand to see someone messing it up. Someone starts a war, and they make a muck up of it, and you run in and sort it out, all while grumbling that you have no choice.

Jorick: You’re the one who forces me into those situations, to “keep things interesting”. I’m not the one who scrolls through the manuscript and says, “Gee, it really needs some violence here. Who can we kill and how can we kill them?”

Jo: Of course not, because that would mean you were involved in the story, rather than just along for the ride.

Jorick: Ride? More like a nightmare trip from hell! And that redheaded idiot is the leader of the arch demons!

Jo: Are you talking about Verchiel? Arch demon is pretty harsh.

Jorick: You’re right; it’s too much for him. He’s more like a toe biting minion. If you have to keep torturing Katelina and I, the least you could do is kill the redheaded idiot. You want me to participate? I’ll set the scene for you. The sky is dark and strewn with diamond stars. The sandy beach stretches into the distance and the dark ocean rolls in and out, the waves playing a rhythmic night symphony. Suddenly, from the shadows leaps a furious vampire. His dark eyes blaze and his heroic muscles bulge as he leaps on his red-haired prey and knocks him to the ground. With a single swift motion he-

Jo: Whoa, wait a minute. First of all, we are NOT killing Verchiel. Second of all – Heroic muscles? If I wrote that I’d be laughed out of the book business.

Jorick: I’ve read your…work. Heroic muscles is an improvement. And why can’t we kill him? He serves no purpose except to irritate me, harass Katelina, and try to create the hint of a love triangle, which we clearly don’t need. Katelina and I are perfectly happy together and he is nothing more than in irritant!

Jo: And there’s the truth. You’re jealous! You’re afraid he’s going to get his triangle. Or that he’s going to turn her. Or link her. You know, I actually thought about that.

Jorick: WHAT?!

Jo: *shrugs* It was a passing thought. You’d be surprised how many interesting ideas I have that I don’t do anything with. Like a Katelina/Kateesha scene I abandoned. That’s really the hard part of being the author. Everything you write is canon. It’s not like some fanfic writer who can do outlandish things and then walk away, no harm done.

Jorick: Then why don’t you go write fanfic and leave us alone?

Jo: I’ve thought about it. Not leaving you alone, but writing my own fanfics. I could post them under a fake name and have all kinds of fun. Think of all the things we could do! I could kill you one by one and have no repercussions! I could send Katelina on a wild weekend with Micah-

Jorick: WHAT? Are you insane? She would never-

Jo: Hello! That’s the point of fan fiction. Never mind. I have too many things to do to listen to you complain. I just stopped in to say hello to the sheep, who happen to run my favorite review blog, and pat Baaaaaart on the head. (He’s so cute). I should also thank them for putting up with you.

Jorick: You should thank them for putting up with you and your inane idea of a guest post. This was really the best you could do?

Jo: *waves her magic writer’s wand* *Jorick disappears* Goodbye Jorick! Thanks for playing! As I was saying, thanks so much for having us over today. Sorry that Jorick complained so much, but you know how he is. He wouldn’t be happy if I stabbed him in the heart with a new stake!


If you’d like to learn more about Jorick, Verchiel and the rest of the chaotic cast you can check out my blog at http://JoleeneNaylor.wordpress.com or my website at http://JoleeneNaylor.com  and if you’d like to read Jorick’s latest adventure (which is only half as torturous as he claims) you can pick it up on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Smashwords, and other ebook retailors, or in paperback.

Heart of the Raven (Amaranthine, #5)
A myth with the power to destroy the world…

Katelina has barely recovered from the chaos of Malick’s revolt, yet she and Jorick must go to Munich to testify before the True Council. All hopes of a vacation are dashed when they ‘re assigned an entourage that includes Verchiel, a vampire Katelina never wants to see again.

Her hatred is forgotten when Malick and his henchmen penetrate the stronghold in Munich. Jorick hijacks the trip and diverts them on a quest to reclaim the Heart of the Raven. Said to be the disembodied heart of Lilith, the relic may be more reality than myth, and if it falls into the wrong hands it could have disastrous consequences for the world. Can they reach its hiding place before Malick?

The fifth installment of the Amaranthine series sees Jorick and Katelina draw closer as they surround themselves with their own miniature army and try to outwit the machinations of the ancient master. Katelina grows stronger and learns to stand on her own because there’s no room for the fainthearted in a world where darkness is eternal and the night tastes like blood.

About the Author:
website-FB-twitter-blog

Joleene Naylor grew up in southwest Iowa surrounded by soybeans, corn and very little entertainment – so she made her own. She has been writing and drawing since she was a small child, with a particular leaning towards fantasy, horror and paranormal. It is this love of all that goes bump in the night that led her to write the Amaranthine series.
In her spare time she is a freelance artist, book cover designer and photographer. Her current projects include the fifth novel in the Amaranthine series, and Patrick: The Prequel. Joleene maintains blogs full of odd ramblings and hopes to win the lottery. Until she does, she and her husband live near Bolivar, Missouri with their cats, dogs and turtles. However, unless they start buying tickets she may never win anything.

For more info on how YOU can get YOUR book featured on my blog

First time author? Check out The Self Published Authors' Lounge for tips and advice!

COVER ART FAQ

all books available for ereaders and print. 
These are the print covers that Joleene created. You can get to the ebooks through these links too.

GIVEAWAY
Joleene is giving one winner an ecopy of Heart of the Raven (my favorite in the series!)
win some Amaranthine series swag at Sunday Swag

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Sunday Swag: Joleene Naylor

Sunday Swag Team!
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Now you have 5 chances to get your swagger on

Our featured author is the multi-talented Joleene Naylor! She is a photographer, artist and author. She writes one of my favorite dark PNR/UF vampire series. It you like your stories fast paced, action packed and your vamps with some bite to them give this series a try. The 5th book in her Amaranthine series, Heart of the Raven just released and it gets 5 Sheep from me!

 Joleene's hero Jorick is doing a Character Confession guest post today, so be sure to check it out.

These are the kindle covers. You can also get the books in print with Joleene's drawn covers

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will add some sheep swag too!

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