Blood & Castles: A sci-fi vampire story by Kory M. Shrum

Vampires in space?

Check out this new short story from Kory M. Shrum

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Beginning!`

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"New twist on vampire stories. Earth's treasures and antiquities are being dismantled. And an old castle still has some secrets. Will the ace troubleshooter take the offer? Will the crew be saved? Certainly cries out as the start of a new series! Kory really captures the mood and sets the stage for a great beginning of a new series. I hope she continues it."

Blood & Castles: A sci-fi vampire story
by Kory M. Shrum
October 12, 2020

Genre: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Space Opera 
Humanity moved on, but no dark secrets can be left behind.

Kal Haven only has weeks to live. What he thought was a minor infection turned out to be a death sentence. Before he can process the news, his old buddy begs a favor. He needs Kal to come to Earth with his ship and retrieval crew and help move Dracula's famed castle off-world.

Earth is a shell of its former self. Everything of value has been bought and sold to the highest bidder. Dracula's Castle will simply be the latest purchase made by an eccentric trillionaire.

However, Kal quickly learns this is no ordinary shipping job. People have gotten hurt. Others disappeared.

And what Kal finds beneath the ruins of the ancient relic may be worse than his impending demise...

AMAZON

Kory's other series

DYING FOR A LIVING - THE COMPLETE SERIES

Dying for a Living (Book 1)

Dying by the Hour (Book 2)

Dying for Her: A Companion Novel (Book 3)

Dying Light (Book 4)

Worth Dying For (Book 5)

Dying Breath (Book 6)

Dying Day (Book 7)

Also available in the Dying for a Living series

Box set Volume 1 (Dying for a Living Books 1-3)

Box set Volume 2 (Dying for a Living Books 4-7)

The Complete Boxset (Dying for a Living Books 1-7)

SHADOWS IN THE WATER SERIES (ongoing)

Shadows in the Water (Book 1)

Under the Bones (Book 2)

Danse Macabre (Book 3)

Carnival (Book 4)

Devil's Luck (Book 5)

Shadows in the Water Box set Volume 1 (Shadows 1-3)

CASTLE COVE SERIES (ongoing)

Welcome to Castle Cove

Night Tide

About the Author:

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Kory M. Shrum, author of the bestselling Shadows in the Water and Dying for a Living series, has loved books and words all her life. She reads almost every genre you can think of, but when she writes, she writes science fiction, fantasy, and thrillers, or often something that's all of the above.

This author can usually be found under thick blankets with a stash of snacks. The kettle is almost always on.

When she's not eating, reading, writing, or enjoying her true calling as a stay-at-home dog mom, she loves to plan her next adventure. (Travel)

She lives in Michigan with her equally bookish wife, Kim, and their rescue pug, Charlemagne. They call him Charley. Learn more at www.korymshrum.com where you can sign up for her newsletter and receive free, exclusive ebooks.

Guest Vblog: The Story Behind the Story: Shadows in the Water by Kory M. Shrum + giveaway

Today Kory Shrum's newest supernatural crime thriller Shadows in the Water releases! She created this special video to tell us the

Story behind the Story

Shadows in the Water

by Kory M. Shrum

February 7, 2017

504 pages

Louie Thorne was born with a dangerous gift and a reason to fear the darkness. But when her parents are murdered by the mafia, embracing her power is the only way to exact her revenge. She will destroy the men who destroyed her family—no matter the cost.

Robert King may be a retired agent, but he knows trouble when he sees it. First, his old partner returns with a case. Then an old flame begs a favor. By the time Louie enters the picture, King will be lucky to survive the night.

A supernatural crime thriller perfect for fans of Dean Koontz.

About the Author:

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Kory M. Shrum lives in Michigan with her wife and their ferocious guard pug, Josephine. Kory is a big fan of naps, coffee, books, cheese, socks, books, noodles, teapots, traveling…and books.

She's a proud member of the Four Horsemen of the Bookocalypse, where she's known as Conquest. She's the author of the Dying for a Living fantasy series and the Shadows in the Water thriller series.

She loves to hear from fans on Facebook (www.facebook.com/korymshrum), Twitter (@koryshrum), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/koryshrum/) or her website (www.korymshrum.com).

GIVEAWAY
signed copy of Shadows in the Water
international

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Book Review: Dying Breath (A Jesse Sullivan Novel Book 6) by Kory M. Shrum

Dying Breath (A Jesse Sullivan Novel Book 6)
by Kory M. Shrum

November 29, 2016
262 pages
"I always knew I was going to die. I just didn’t know it was going to be today."

Maisie won’t live to see her seventeenth birthday. Her mother and sister are locked in a war over the world, and Maisie is stuck between them. She must decide if she will join her sister’s cause, or defend her mother. In the face of her mother’s demands, Maisie doubts herself and what she truly wants. But her only alternative is to be murdered by the person she loves most.

Jesse wants to find her father’s body and finish him before he can resurrect. If she succeeds she will save millions, if not billions, of lives. But first, Jesse must defeat the woman protecting him.

Will Maisie stand with her? Or fight by her mother’s side?

One decision will make all the difference in the world.

We are almost to the end of this series! There is only one more book after this one and I have no idea what will happen. The story has taken so many twists and turns, each book unveiling something new about the world Shrum has created. What you know at the end of book one is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. If you haven't started this urban fantasy series you can get book one free on any platform (amazon). Go grab it.

Things are barreling fast at Jesse now. She's accomplished the one task that has been a driving forces in her life and now she has to make the one decision she's been avoiding this whole time. Yeah, I'm being vague, but spoilers! We don't want any. There is a lot of heartbreak; Shrum has never shied away from letting bad things happen to her characters. That sounds kind of dark, but one of the overall themes of the story is what people will do for love. Sometimes they do bad things for all the right reasons and sometimes their idea of love is pretty freaking twisted.

The books are written in first person, alternating between Jesse and another character, in the case of Dying Breath it is Jesse and Maisie. I've always liked being in Jesse's head—trying to do what's right and not like having to do it <G>. Plus the story is action packed and fast moving.

Some favorite Jesse moments:
I army crawl away from the wrecked car until I'm far enough away that a second explosion won't blow my butt off. I like my butt. It's always got my back. I can't go leaving it behind at the first sign of trouble.

Gee-zus. Guilt is such an impediment! It should be counted as a disability!

Stupid Ally and her stupid don't-kill-people ideas.
She isn't here, Gabriel whispers in my ear, and he's right. I'm carrying Ally and her code of ethics around all by myself.
And why?
Because I got her killed.  Again. Man, I suck.

Review: Dying For a Living (A Jesse Sullivan Novel Book 1)

Review: Dying for Her (A Jesse Sullivan Novel Book 3)

Review: Dying Light (A Jesse Sullivan Novel Book 4) 

Review: Worth Dying For (A Dying for a Living Novel Book 5)

4.5 "It's the end of the world as we know it?" Sheep

 



SharonS

About the Author:

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I like to make things up and then write them down. When I'm finished, I clean it up, put a cover on it, and call it a day. When I'm not writing fiction or poetry, I teach writing to college students. I try to compensate for my incredible physical laziness by having a very active mind and imagination. I've dabbled in everything from fortune-telling to martial arts and I study drawing and French. I'm pretty bad at both. Currently, I live in Michigan with my wife, Kim, and our fat rescue pug, Josephine.

Jesse's Top 5 Reasons Death Replacement Sucks! (Dying Breath by Kory M. Shrum) + giveaway

Sure, plenty of people hate their jobs. Maybe you even hate your job. You might even catch yourself saying something like “God, my job sucks!” or “this job is killing me!”

Well, I’m here to tell you, no. NO. Your job is not killing you. You might be frustrated, or feel underappreciated, or hate everything because you’re tormented with an overwhelming desire to screw your boss, but your job is not killing you—at least it isn’t killing you the way my job is killing me.

When I say “this job is killing me”, I’m dead serious. As in dead dead. Ka-put. No pulse. Meat in the road, people. I have the worst, suckiest job ever. I win this pissing contest.

Period.

Hi, I’m Jesse Sullivan and I’m a death replacement agent. I work as a death surrogate, literally dying so that others don’t have to. It leaves me with sore muscles, scars and a bit of memory loss. But that’s not even the worst part. Here are five reasons why my job sucks worst of all:

It sucks to die.
I feel like I don’t even have to explain this. I mean almost everyone on the planet has a fear of death. You people are willing to pay $50K just to not die. And why wouldn’t you? As someone who has died over a hundred times, I can tell you it never gets easier. It’s scary as finding a clown under your covers and about as pleasant as a gynecological tour of your lady mansion.

And the problem with dying all the time is I have this edge-of-my-seat feeling that it could happen AT ANY MOMENT. Even on my nights off, when you would think I’d be nice and comfy in my own bed, sometimes I wake up in a cold sweat, heart racing. It’s really hard to relax in my line of work.

The benefits suck.
Most death replacement agents can do 80-100 death replacements before they’re brains become mashed bananas. Dying is hard on the brain. There’s a small window before we “reboot” where the brain loses oxygen which leads to scarring which leads to wearing a bib and possibly an adult diaper all your life. No 401K. No awesome health insurance. No paid vacations or time off. Just stiff muscles and a crotchety handler breathing down your neck.

It sucks to spend so much time in hospitals.
If you’re a death replacement agent, you’re going to get intimately acquainted with your doctor—no buts about it. Well, butts but not the kind anyone wants to talk about. And it’s going to be an uncomfortably intimate relationship. Dr. York has had to restuff my chest cavity, reattach limbs and fingers and pump me full of more blood than a dehydrated vampire raving at Mardi Gras. Having any man know you that well—inside and out—sucks.

It sucks to look like roadkill.
Death is not glamorous. Once that bus smears you across I-40 or the shotgun sprays your vertebrae out the other side, you start to look—rough. Sure, you heal up eventually. But for those first couple of days after a death replacement, you look exactly like what you are: someone who died. Your blood stopped. Maybe your limbs were torn off. Your favorite jeans are definitely destroyed. And worst case scenario, you lost some hair.

It isn’t pretty. And you won’t be either.

Major suckage.

Your spongy, vulnerable body sucks.
You know the suckiest part of my job?

You.

Oh, don’t give me that look. This isn’t personal. I’m sure you have a shining personality or whatever, but you’re so fragile. Do you even realize how easy you are to kill?

A moving vehicle can do it. Too much drinking can do it. Not enough drinking can do it. God forbid I leave you alone with some water and floor for five seconds. Hell, you can trip over your own feet and fall several stories to your death—I’ve seen it happen. There are so many millions of ways that you could possibly die that following you around trying to protect your fleshy ass—is the most stressful part of the job.

So how about we do each other a favor. You stay home and not die. And I’ll stay home and catch up on all the TV shows I’ve been missing while unconscious.

How’s that sound? Win-win for everybody. But stay out of the kitchen and the bathroom, okay? It’s not safe in there. Seriously. And don’t eat anything. And don’t try to pee in the dark just because it’s 2 a.m. Turn on the light for crying out loud. Wait, what are you…

Fuck it. I’ll see you at midnight.

Review: Dying For a Living (A Jesse Sullivan Novel Book 1)

Review: Dying for Her (A Jesse Sullivan Novel Book 3)

Review: Dying Light (A Jesse Sullivan Novel Book 4) 

Review: Worth Dying For (A Jesse Sullivan Novel Book 5)

Dying Breath (A Jesse Sullivan Novel Book 6)

by Kory M. Shrum

November 29, 2016

262 pages

"I always knew I was going to die. I just didn’t know it was going to be today."

Maisie won’t live to see her seventeenth birthday. Her mother and sister are locked in a war over the world, and Maisie is stuck between them. She must decide if she will join her sister’s cause, or defend her mother. In the face of her mother’s demands, Maisie doubts herself and what she truly wants. But her only alternative is to be murdered by the person she loves most.

Jesse wants to find her father’s body and finish him before he can resurrect. If she succeeds she will save millions, if not billions, of lives. But first, Jesse must defeat the woman protecting him.

Will Maisie stand with her? Or fight by her mother’s side?

One decision will make all the difference in the world.

About the Author:

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I like to make things up and then write them down. When I'm finished, I clean it up, put a cover on it, and call it a day. When I'm not writing fiction or poetry, I teach writing to college students. I try to compensate for my incredible physical laziness by having a very active mind and imagination. I've dabbled in everything from fortune-telling to martial arts and I study drawing and French. I'm pretty bad at both. Currently, I live in Michigan with my wife, Kim, and our fat rescue pug, Josephine.

GIVEAWAY

Signed copy of winner's choice from the Jesse Sullivan Series
(chose from book 1-6)
US/Canada ONLY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Kory M Shrum: Five Things That Would Happen if Jesse Sullivan Met the Winchester Brothers #Supernatural + giveaway

Five Things That Would Happen if Jesse Sullivan Met the Winchester Brothers #Supernatural

I love me some Supernatural. I’ve been a huge fan since Season 1, back when Sam and Dean were scrawny pretty boys. (No really! Watch episode one and compare it to an episode from the latest season—they’ve really filled out!—not that I’m complaining. *wink wink nudge nudge*)

From day 1, I’ve loved everything about them. Their tortured hearts. Their brotherly pranks. The way they totally kick ass and look amazing when they do it. So as both an author and a fan I couldn’t help but imagine what would happen if my heroine Jesse Sullivan came across the Winchesters in some universe.

Here are five things I think would most certainly happen should Sam and Dean cross paths with my Jesse:

1) They would most certainly mistake her for a monster, try to kill her, and fail…a couple of times.
Jesse is sassy and churlish and a little amoral. She dies but doesn’t stay dead. And I’m pretty sure Sam and Dean would think she was some kind of monster straight away. They’d see the glowy force field or the explosive pyrotechnics being wielded by someone who, at least at first glance, looks highly unstable and what else could they do? Attack!

Their first encounter would probably be miscommunication galore since communication is not Jesse’s strong suit. They’d be in their fake agent uniforms with badges and Jesse would assume they were from her evil father’s legion, and they’d fight. They might even manage to take her down once or twice (the Winchester Boys have skills!), but my girl doesn’t stay dead.

Bottom line: It would be one hell of an introduction.

2) Jesse and Sam would probably have a brief but passionate affair

Once things passed the initial “explosive” introduction, I think Sam would be the first to listen to reason. Jesse would explain her NRD, her situation, and the big bad that she’s warring against. Being the intellectual one (Sorry, Dean!), he would come to terms with her situation and bizarre powers more quickly than Dean. Then she would charm the pants right off of him. Literally. He would remind her of her ex-Lane and we all know Sam has a thing for monster girls. The chemistry would be instant.

*Kiss kiss* *fade to black*

3) Jesse and Dean would have a sass out, but eventually come to appreciate each other over pie.
Angered that another beautiful wench as seduced his brother, Dean would confront Jesse. She matches Dean in her sarcasm fluency, so I imagine a FANTASTIC scene in which they just fire comment after comment at each other until they both burst into huge grins, accepting the other as their equal in wit and charm. A truce is called and they head to the diner to consume lots of pie, where Jesse can explain her situation and offer to help the boys fight off their current foe. They get three slices each and they share, passing the plates back and forth.

4) They would totally bond over the stress of having an unstable angel for a “friend”

During said pie-eating, bonding session, Jesse and Dean come to realize they share something in common—an unstable angel friend who usually leads them into trouble rather than away from it. Dean will talk about Castiel’s charming but sometimes catastrophic melomania. Jesse will counter with “At least other people can see your angel. Everyone just thinks I’m insane.”
More pie is ordered.

5) They would kick some major bad guy butt…but then amicably part ways.
Once the boys are thoroughly team Jesse, they borrow upon her awesomeness to destroy <insert enemy here>. They are fascinated with her force fields, firebombs, and insta-healing powers and no-nonsense approach to business. She is dazzled with how good they look shooting and casting blood spells to ward off angels and demons etc. At the end of the battle, they are thoroughly impressed with each other. Dean starts to think he wouldn’t mind having a girl in the backseat of the impala. (Heh.) Especially one so pretty and useful.

But Jesse goes on alone to continue hunting her genocidal father and save the world from certain destruction.

All three of them hope to run into each other again.

Worth Dying For (A Dying for a Living Novel Book 5)
by Kory M. Shrum

277 pages
May 2, 2016
A supernatural suspense novel about a snarky anti-heroine and her motley crew trying to stop the unstoppable. The fifth novel in the popular Dying for a Living series, Worth Dying For picks up two months after the events of Dying Light. 

The gang is in New York and much to Jesse’s surprise, they are all still alive. Jesse, Ally, Rachel, Gideon and Maisie have managed to stay off of Caldwell’s radar for months. But when your enemy can control minds and teleport, there isn’t a safe place in the world where you can hide. They have a plan for stopping his genocidal reign, but it will require a 2500-mile road trip to Cochise, Arizona, the abandoned military base where it all began.

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Excerpt:

“So what’ll it be?” I ask her. “Water? Juice? I don’t think we actually have Gatorade, but I can walk down to the store.”

“Water’s fine.” Ally falls back against cushions and grins up at me. A light pink blush spreads over her cheeks. She finger-combs her hair. “My hair is so pretty. I love my hair.”

I snort. “I love your hair too.”

“What else about me is cute?” she asks.

“Everything.” I fluff the pillow for her and search the room for a blanket. I yank a red velvety throw off the back of a chair as Gideon slips out of the bedroom and passes me on his way to the mini fridge. He grabs one of the wrapped water glasses from the bar above.

“Grab us one too.” I have zero problems assigning tasks to other people. Sometimes I wonder if it was a mistake going into death-replacing. Sure, I was a great death replacement agent, and dying for other people is cool, but I’m really good at bossing people around.

It’s like a calling.

Gideon fills two water glasses with some fancy bottled water from the fridge and hands me a glass. I don’t dare remind him that Ally vowed not to drink this water yesterday. She ranted about the effect of plastic on the environment for ten whole minutes. I could’ve reminded her that the planet is about to explode anyway, but that meant Gideon would’ve won the argument and I’m Team Ally all the way.

I put the glass of water in her hand. What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. “Here you go. Drink up.”

She waves her water around. “I just feel so good, you know?”

I smile. “I can tell.”

She runs a hand through her hair. “It’s a new year. A new beginning. And we have a great plan for kicking Caldwell’s butt.”

“We do.”

“And you’re so cute and you kissed me.”

With arched eyebrows, Gideon closes the bedroom door behind him. Thankfully, the sound of the television comes on, affording us some privacy.

I sink down onto the sofa beside her. “I’ll do it again if you want me too. I’ll kiss you a million times.”

She bites her lip and I’m about to lose it. I lean forward to kiss her but she starts talking again, so I hang there mid-smooch, lips puckered.

“Life is so good right now. No one is stabbing us, burying us alive, beating us up, or kidnapping the dog,” she goes on, her voice echoing inside her water glass. Her face pinches. “That means we are probably about to die.”

I press my lips together and sigh. “Don’t say that. You’ll jinx us.”

It’s difficult getting her to sit up, but I manage it. I want her to drink this water. I tilt the glass toward her lips, encouraging her.

“This is good,” she says and frowns at the water. “Is this tap water?”

“Yep.”

“Because I’m not drinking that $15 water Gideon bought.”

“It’s tap,” I say again. “You’re just too drunk to taste it.”

Ally shrugs and finishes the glass. Then she hands me her empty glass.

“You want more?”

“No,” she grins. “I want something else.”

“We’ve got chips, but that’s about it. And Rachel can’t close a bag to save her life, so they’re probably stale.”

She shakes her head, grinning.

Then I realize what she’s saying.

“Oh.” I smile. “Okay.”

She crawls over the pillow between us and pulls herself into my lap. She straddles me, wrapping her arms around my neck. She kisses me once on the cheek, probably a missed target rather than a sweet gesture, and then manages to get my mouth the second time.

She pulls back. “God, is it you or is it really hot in here?”

“We’re still wearing our coats.”

She laughs and looks down at herself. “Oh. Right.”

I reach up behind her and pull her jacket off. “Better?”

She snuggles up to me. “You’re still hot.”

“Thanks for noticing.”

“Let me help you take your coat off.”

“Okay.” I let her attempt to pull off the jacket, but it’s not really going anywhere and she accidentally pulls my hair twice. So I help her get my jacket off and throw it over the arm of the sofa. One of the throw pillows falls to the floor with a poof.

Ally doesn’t stop there. She slips her hands under my shirt, giving me a curious look. “Is this okay?”

I try to find the voice to tell her it’s more than okay. She would have been naked an hour ago in the grubby bathroom of some bar if she wasn’t such a germaphobe.

She is so beautiful. Her eyes are bright, reflecting the lamplight. Her face is flushed from the alcohol, her smile lazy. Her eyes half-closed. My heart pounds in my chest, thudding against my ribs so hard it hurts.

“What’s wrong?” A frown creases her face and I think she can hear my heart throbbing. “Don’t you think I’m pretty?”

“Don’t be stupid.”

I reach up and pull her down into my arms. I kiss her, even more deeply than I did on the balcony. I slip my hand under her shirt and unsnap her bra with one twist of my fingers.

She gasps in my mouth and the sound of it makes my whole body shudder.

“Lay down,” I command.

She laughs, surprised, but her voice goes all deep and breathy. “Yes, sir.”

I climb on top of her, positioning myself between her legs. I kiss her neck and she squirms, bucking her hips up against mine.

“Do you love me?” she asks.

“More than anyone.”

“Are you sure?”

I cover her mouth with mine. “Please stop talking.” I pull back. “Unless you want me to stop.”

“No, no.” She grabs the front of my hoodie, twisting it up in her fists and pulls me down on top of her.

About the Author:

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I like to make things up and then write them down. When I'm finished, I clean it up, put a cover on it, and call it a day. When I'm not writing fiction or poetry, I teach writing to college students. I try to compensate for my incredible physical laziness by having a very active mind and imagination. I've dabbled in everything from fortune-telling to martial arts and I study drawing and French. I'm pretty bad at both. Currently, I live in Michigan with my partner, Kim, and our fat rescue pug, Josephine.

Tour giveaway 

1 grand prize: A prize pack of signed books 1-5 in Dying for a Living series as well as swag and treats. (US Only)

3 free audiobooks 

1 ebook bundle of books 1-5 Dying for a Living books and $25 giftcard

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