Character Interview with Nira Fen Amado from Slipspace: Harbinger by P.C. Haring!!


Please help welcome author P.C. Haring to the site for an interview and an excerpt of Slipspace: Harbinger!

Greetings!   I’m P.C. Haring, the author of Slipspace: Harbinger and I’d like to thank you for taking the time to read this and check out my new book.     Today I’d like to introduce you to the character of Nira Fen Amado.  As the civilian head of medical services on board a military battleship, she finds herself in an uncomfortable position, given that her husband serves aboard as well.  With that in mind, I present an excerpt from an interview she would have given to embedded press reporters during the ship’s shakedown. 

So, let’s get right down to it, Dr. Amado, and address the elephant in the room.  Your husband commands this ship.  The phrase ‘conflict of interest’ seems appropriate in this circumstance, wouldn’t you say?

I can certainly see that point; however, it assumes that our interests are mutually exclusive.   Captain Amado and I both share the same interest in ensuring the wellbeing of this crew for the duration of its tour of duty.   Yes, we have different functions, but our overall goal remains the same, even if we approach a problem from different angles. 

But, at the same time, your relationship with your husband might give the impression that one of you might cave when it came to a legitimate conflict of interest and make a decision that would not be in the best interest of the ship or its crew. 
Actually, I think my relationship with him as my husband is an advantage, unlike your implication.   Because we know each other as well as we do, we know how to approach the other and present our points of view to each other in meaningful and constructive ways.   If anything, it should help us resolve any professional differences more quickly and productively as a result.  

You can’t be that naïve to think it’s always going to be smooth sailing on a professional level, Doctor.
I’m not.   At some point, there’s going to be a patient in my ward who has information the captain needs and we’re going to butt heads over ships security vs the patient’s well-being.  I don’t envy that argument.

Who wins that argument?
That’s something I’d prefer not to think about.   No matter which one of us ‘wins’, we both lose. 

So why put yourself in that position?  Why take this posting at all, knowing the inevitable tension it would put on your marriage?
You just answered your own question.   He’s my husband.

Yes.  But you had a successful career back on Lumo.  You could have easily stayed there.
True.   But that wouldn’t have done anyone any good.  Our goals as a married couple are incompatible with one of us being left behind.  I go where he goes, and vice versa.   Therefore, the only options would have been for one of us to give up our career for the other.   Again, no matter who ‘won’ that argument we both would lose.   But we were able to avoid that problem when the Captain offered me the job here. 

Sounds convenient. 
I resent that implication.   The Alliance puts all of their civilian contractors through a rigorous vetting process and retains final approval for all civilian assignments.   If I were unqualified or inappropriate for the role, I would not be here.   For you to imply that I am either unqualified or jumped ahead in some non-existent line because someone called in a favor is insulting at best. 

I see.  Well, I suppose time will tell us how that bears out.  
Yes.  Yes, it will. 


And there you have it.  Thank you again for reading and letting me come in and share some insight into one of my favorite characters in this book.   I hope you enjoyed it.  If you did, and you enjoyed the excerpt, I hope you’ll consider stepping aboard for the maiden flight of the Mjöllnir and her crew.  




Slipspace: Harbinger
Book 1
P.C. Haring

Genre:  Sci-Fi/Space Opera
Date of Publication: 5/1/17
ISBN: 978-1545253663
ASIN: B06Y4MW2VT
Number of pages: 336
Word Count: 110,600
Cover Artist: Starla Hutchton

Tagline:  The War went cold a decade ago…

Book Description:

A fringe colony world has gone dark, and Captain Cody Amado and the crew of the ISPA’s newest battle cruiser, Mjöllnir, must respond and investigate. No one is prepared for the destruction that awaits them.

Agendas collide as the bonds of duty, loyalty, and family are tested, and the major governments position themselves to prepare for what is to come next. With interstellar tensions rising, the crew of the Mjöllnir race to discover the connection between the colony’s destruction, an alien society so reclusive it has only been rumored about, and an enemy that disappeared a decade prior.

Is this merely an isolated incident, or is this a harbinger of much darker things still to come?

Excerpt:


October 13, 2832
06:30
Mjöllnir - Captains Quarters

Morning came too soon for the Amados, much to Nira’s chagrin.  Together, she and Cody made their way through the endless corridors.  With the Mjöllnir just a few minutes out from Artez, the decks were buzzing with activity as the crew prepared for as many contingencies as could be planned. 
They exchanged a brief kiss before going their separate ways- Nira towards the Med-deck and Cody  to OpCom as Cassie’s voice echoed through the ship’s public address system announcing their pending arrival and setting the ship at condition two.  He stepped through the hatch and found the ship’s command center no exception to the activity about the rest of the ship.  The traffic on deck paused to give the Captain room to move to his station and log in. 
“Give me a sit-rep,” The Captain ordered.
Cassie stepped to the opposite side of the central station.  She betrayed no anger or frustration.  Any animosity she had towards him lay buried behind as much professionalism she could muster.
“We can’t find an exit aperture. According to navigational charts, we’re well within range of the outer guide-buoys, but there’s no sign of them.  We’ve also tried to raise the gate on comms, but no luck.”
“Deploy a replacement buoy,” he spoke to Cassie.  “We’ll have to make a blind exit.  Hopefully it won’t be in the middle of an engagement.” 
He paused and reviewed the data.  “Still, best be prepared.” 
He stepped away from the console and turned to the deck.  “Sound General Quarters!  Set condition one throughout the ship!”
The order relayed through the chain of command.  The Mjöllnir’s klaxon rang out only seconds later and the already busy decks burst into further action.  Two minutes later, Cassie turned from her console. 
“All rail positions are manned and armed.  Main cannons are charging.  ECM is charging and calibrated full negative; frequency coverage at ninety seven percent.  Replacement nav-com buoy has been deployed.  ETA to Artez...,” she paused to check her watch. “Three minutes.”
“Good work.”
“Captain, we’re close enough to pick up preliminary data,” the navigator reported.  “Without the buoy, we’re without detail, but I’m detecting over one hundred separate energy signatures.  The data is too obscure to plot an exit trajectory.”
The display in front of Cody updated, a wave of distortion sweeping out from center, erasing old information and leaving new data in its wake. 
“There go my hopes of not walking into a fight,” Cody muttered.  “Pilot, overshoot the combat area!  Tear us an exit to normal space and double back!”
“Aye, Skipper!”
The deck rumbled as the ship tore itself into normal space.  Without the aid of a functioning gate, the transition came with far more violence.  The ship shuddered and bucked, throwing both Amados off balance, and a few crewmen to the deck.  Cody and Melor exchanged looks of tepid relief.  He noted that even as an emergency maneuver, one within the ship’s tolerances, the blind exit always carried dangerous risk. 
Power transitioned to the Mjöllnir’s sub light engines as the pilots brought her about and proceeded on course at flank speed. 
As they approached the edge of the zone, the first signs of debris floated past the ship.  The pilot and navigator avoided it with ease but soon found the ship surrounded by hull fragments from broken fighters.  This was no surprise as fighter wings always took high casualties.
“ECM to full, activate all fixed weapon positions and roll the Gryphons onto the tarmac,” Cassie ordered. 
Cody continued to study the out-of-focus holograms on the central display.  The objects still showed as general spheres, indicating the sensor’s inability to obtain a full resolution scan.
“Can we clear up this interference any time soon?” Cassie asked.
In response, Melor turned to a secondary console.  “I’m trying, Commander.  There are a lot of cross signals out there preventing us from getting a full resolution scan on the area.”  She transferred a data module from one console to another.  The device whirred to life as she accessed its programming.  “However,” she muttered as she worked, “I have a couple of algorithms up my sleeve.  I’m bringing them online right...”
At the same time, all screens and displays showing the battle zone refreshed to show its data at full resolution.  Melor, Aler, and both Amados looked to the center and watched. 
“My God,” Cassie muttered.
No one responded.  Everyone’s eyes locked on the displays and the sensor returns.  Op-Com fell silent save for the humming of the ship’s engines and the beeping of the computers.  No one moved, as they stood locked in a trance of awe and horror.  The Mjöllnir’s engines powered down as they arrived at the coordinates.  What should have been a fully functional slipgate was little more than a field of burning hulk and slag. 
“The station...it’s just gone,” Cassie said, to no one in particular.
After what seemed like an eternity, Melor turned back to her console.  “Sensors are detecting no weapon signatures, no power signatures...”

“This isn’t a battle zone,” Cody stated. “It’s a graveyard.”

About the Author:


A fan of Science Fiction from an early age P.C. Haring has always been one of those who looked up at the night sky and wondered “what if…”

P.C. Haring made his debut as a writer and podcast novelist on 01/01/10 with Cybrosis. This production met with a strongly favorable response that propelled it to number four on the Podiobooks.com Top Ten list when it was re-launched there that October. His audio fiction can also be heard in Scott Sigler’s The Crypt: Book 1 — The Crew and in Philippa Ballantine’s Chronicles of the Order anthology. His contribution for Tales from the Archives, co-produced by Philippa Ballantine and Tee Morris, won him the 2012 Parsec Award for Best Short Story. This momentum propelled P.C. Haring into publishing Cybrosis as well as his latest project, Slipspace: Harbinger independently.

When he isn’t developing new projects for podcast and publication, P.C. Haring works as a corporate accountant in the Chicagoland area and as a husband to his beautiful wife.







Excerpt & #Giveaway: Billionaires on the Beach:The Anderson Brothers Elizabeth Lennox, Gloria Silk, Leslie North, Lizabeth Scott, Noelle Adams

Billionaires on the Beach: The Anderson Brothers
Elizabeth Lennox, Gloria Silk, Leslie North, Lizabeth Scott, Noelle Adams
Publication date: June 27th 2017
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Fake relationships, secret heirs, friends with benefits, hot nannies, and irresistible rivals… falling in love isn’t easy for five sexy, billionaire brothers.
Enjoy hot days and hotter nights on Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina with the billionaire Anderson brothers in this series of five steamy, original novellas from USA Today bestselling authors Elizabeth Lennox and Noelle Adams, as well as Leslie North, Lizabeth Scott, and Gloria Silk.
All profits from Billionaires on the Beach will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
The Billionaire’s Mistake by Elizabeth Lennox – Marie didn’t have time for a romance, but when Sloan Anderson walked into her coffee shop, all of her friends decided that it was time for her to fall in love. Even her dog was in on the matchmaking! Unfortunately, no one bothered to tell her heart that Sloan Anderson was a lying, horrible, son of a…No way was she going to fall for a man who was going to foreclose on her store!
Her Reluctant Billionaire by Noelle Adams – Katie has been friends with Logan Anderson for four years. He might be a smart, funny, adorable billionaire, but after her work as a divorce attorney, she’s just not interested in romance. But when she pretends to be his girlfriend for one weekend at the beach, she starts to see him as far more than a friend.
The Billionaire’s Babysitter by Leslie North – After BASE jumping from a NYC skyscraper, billionaire Wyatt Anderson has been sentenced to four weeks’ house arrest in his family’s beach house, but he won’t be there alone…. To get her dream job as a nanny for the wealthy, Laine Maguire will have to complete one last role: babysit a billionaire for a month. Shouldn’t be too hard, right?
Chased by the Billionaire by Lizabeth Scott – Grey couldn’t believe that the gorgeous woman with the adorable…ponytail, was none other than the girl from high school – the one none of the guys noticed because she was too timid. No longer! Gemma was smokin’ hot, owned a gym and…was one of the toughest women he’d ever charmed. But this time, there was more. Maybe too much more? Gemma intrigued him in ways that he wasn’t sure he wanted to be intrigued.
From Geek to Greek Billionaire by Gloria Silk – Olivia Moore has landed her dream job—to renovate a very special beach house. The last thing she needs is to bump into her teen crush, the geeky yet sexy Alexander Anderson. He needs her to help him with a makeover and an infusion of confidence with women, but getting closer to him means risking he finds out her secret past, which might tear them apart once again.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Elizabeth Lennox – Although she wanted to be a romance novelist since the eighth grade, that dream only became a paid reality for her in 2009 and a full time job in 2012. Along the way, she received a BS in History and held different jobs in the real estate, government consulting, and financial industries. All during that time, though, she was always writing, using her personal experiences, dreams, and travels throughout the United States, Europe and the Caribbean as backdrops for her stories. Elizabeth lives in Virginia with her husband and two children. Find her at elizabethlennox.com.
Noelle Adams – Noelle handwrote her first romance novel in a spiral-bound notebook when she was twelve, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. She has lived in eight different states and currently resides in Virginia, where she reads any book she can get her hands on and offers tribute to a very spoiled cocker spaniel. She loves travel, art, history, and ice cream. After spending far too many years of her life in graduate school, she has decided to reorient her priorities and focus on writing contemporary romances. Find her at noelle-adams.com.
Leslie North – Leslie North is the pen name for a critically-acclaimed author of women’s contemporary romance and fiction. The anonymity gives her the perfect opportunity to paint with her full artistic palette, especially in the romance and erotic fantasy genres. Leslie fell in love with romance when she first picked up a scrappy, dog-eared romance book from her local library. She began writing soon after and the rest, as they say, was history. She now lives in a cozy cottage on the British coast and enjoys taking long walks with her two Dalmatians, George and Fergie. Find her at leslienorthbooks.com.
Lizabeth Scott – Who is Lizabeth Scott? A voracious reader and a full-time writer for about 4 months! Liz is a wife and mother of two grown children and the proud grandma of the sweetest little baby ever. She is the personal assistant to a terrier terror named Moxie who she occasionally takes to the drive-through for a burger. Liz is a Carolina girl who loves sand between her toes as frequently as possible. At the prompting of a friend, Liz began living her dream of writing in 2013 and is now the author of several series. Find her at lizscottbooks.com.
Gloria Silk – Gloria Silk writes novels of powerful passion without cultural borders. Born in Russia, Gloria Silk has lived in various parts of Europe and the Mediterranean. She loves to travel. Her background in English literature, writing and psychology help her create well-rounded, unique characters for her stories. She’s also an artist (using watercolors and acrylics) and a designer, and is published in non-fiction under Tanya Freedman. Find her at gloriasilk.com.

Excerpt From The Billionaire’s Babysitter by Leslie North

“Hey,” she said, but he didn’t turn around, “I’m sorry if I upset you, prying. It’s none of my business. I apologize.”
“I’m not nine, Laine,” he said. “So don’t try to be my understanding babysitter.”
“I know you’re not a kid,” she said softly, “I was having a nice time and I feel like I ruined it.”
Wyatt raked a hand through his hair and crossed his arms, closed off to her again. “I’d like to know you better,” she said, and laid her cheek on his back just for a second.
Laine wasn’t one to rub up against men, but the expanse of his strong back, and the closeness they’d shared moments ago over the basil overwhelmed her. She wanted to reach out to him. She wanted him to reach for her, to find comfort in her body and she longed to wrap her arms around him and open her lips for him. She was breathless, almost humid with the vividness of that desire, so when he turned and swept her around, his arm hooking her waist and hauling her up against him, she gasped.
“How much better would you like to know me?” he said, his voice low and rasping. Her fingers curled into his shirt front.
Laine felt lost in his intense hot blue gaze. He touched her cheek and she nestled into his palm. She felt as if every nerve ending was alight with the sizzle of his touch. She tried to answer him, knew somehow in the blur of desire that he had asked her a question and she ought to say something, but she couldn’t look away. She could feel the heat of his breath on her lips, his arms holding her against his hard chest. He tipped her chin up and she parted her lips, ready for him, dying for him to kiss her. She blinked, squinting as the sun came out from behind a cloud and shone right in her eyes so she had to look away from him.
He gave that wicked half grin that made her want to drop her panties. Wyatt turned her so the sun wouldn’t be in her eyes, “I’d rather you be blinded by my charm than the sun, come over here,” he pulled her toward the shadow of the fence and she wrapped both arms around his neck, a smile curving her lips as she reached up for him and his mouth brushed hers.
The loudest screeching sound she’d ever heard shrieked from the spot where they were standing. They broke apart and he swore. “Fucking house arrest.” He muttered, taking a step back into the boundaries of the property, “Might as well put a goddamn shock collar on me like a dog.”
“Wyatt—” she called after him but he was on his way back inside.



GIVEAWAY!

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Interview & #Giveaway: The Thirteenth Gate by Kat Ross


Thank you so much for being here with us today Kat Ross!! Read on below for an excerpt of The Thirteenth Gate! Also, don't miss the giveaway either!
Hi! Would you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Thanks so much for having me on the blog today! I was born and raised in New York, but live far enough north of the city now that I can keep a chicken coop in my front yard. Having grown up in Manhattan, I really enjoyed researching New York in the Gilded Age (the 1870s to about 1900) for the Dominion Mysteries series. It was very Wild West in a lot of ways, but also quite sophisticated. I think the raw energy and attitude haven’t changed much, although at least there aren’t thousands of children sleeping barefoot in the streets anymore.

I love old maps, and have a giant one of London from 1890 on the wall next to my desk. I used it to plot the various routes the characters take on foot and by carriage in The Thirteenth Gate. Apparently, the memory centers in the brains of London taxi drivers are a lot bigger than those of average people. To pass the notoriously grueling cabbie test, you have to memorize a labyrinth of 25,000 streets—all within a 10-kilometer radius of Charing Cross train station! It takes people years and years riding around on mopeds.

Do you write an outline before starting a book or just write?

Oh, I’m a huge outliner. I can’t imagine trying to write a mystery by the seat of my pants; there are just too many moving parts. The same with my fantasy books, although I’ll admit, I didn’t outline the trilogy in advance. I wrote each book as I came to it. Somehow it all worked out! There’s definitely a balance between knowing enough that you can write a scene with confidence, and leaving the story with some breathing space for spontaneity. Otherwise it’s very easy to get bored and end up writing by the numbers.

Can you tell us about your challenges in getting your first book published?

It’s a crazy story, actually. I signed with Strange Chemistry, which was a division of the UK publisher, Angry Robot. The contract was for a three-book deal, very exciting for a debut author. And then, a month ahead of my release date, in the midst of my blog tour, Strange Chemistry abruptly folded. My agent called me with the news the very same day boxes of bookmarks and postcards I’d ordered arrived on my doorstep.

The whole fiasco did have a happy ending. We got the rights back and sold the book to Amazon Skyscape for a bigger advance. Some Fine Day came out within the same year. But that was quite an early lesson about the unpredictability of this business!

I know authors get asked this a lot but do you have any advice that you would give to aspiring writers?

This probably isn’t all that original, but it’s really true: you have to think long-term. A few people have magical overnight success, but for most of us, it happens more around book four and beyond. Stuff will happen. Some things will succeed, some will fail. Don’t pay too much attention to income or copies sold, just keep putting your work out there. If it’s good, you’ll find your audience. And make sure you have a beautiful cover!

Can you tell us, in your own words not the book description, a little about your book?

So The Thirteenth Gate picks up from the end of The Daemoniac, although it can definitely be read as a standalone. The awful Dr. William Clarence has just escaped from Greymoor Lunatic Asylum. He’s being hunted by Lady Vivienne Cumberland and Alec Lawrence, who work for the Society for Psychical Research. As the story progresses, you begin to realize that the two of them are much more than they appear—and that Alec isn’t even human. Without giving it away, I’ll just say the plot has elements of Gothic horror, locked-room mystery, and paranormal fantasy—with a dash of Sherlock Holmes.

Can we expect more novels from you in 2017?

Definitely! Next up is Nocturne, Book #1 in the new Fourth Talisman series. The setting is a world that’s tidally locked to its star, so half is always in daylight and half in night. The title refers to the dark side, where the story opens. It carries on the historical elements from my earlier series, with the human cultures modeled on ancient Greece and Persia. There will be atrocious villains, star-crossed lovers and lots of sword-fighting!

And I do plan to continue the Dominion Mysteries with a third installment, for either winter of this year or early 2018. Two words on that: necromancers and Transylvania.

What are some of the pros and cons of being traditionally published verses being self-published in your opinion?

There are some nice perks of traditional publishing: trade reviews, visibility, placement in brick and mortar stores. But personally, I prefer to have control over things like pricing, covers, release dates, etc. I feel like traditionally pubbed ebooks in particular are incredibly expensive. When you’re trying to build an audience, asking people to shell out five or six dollars (or much more) is going to be an uphill battle. My self-pubbed books are already doing much better than the book I published with Skyscape. The other issue is that I write full-time and can release three books a year on my own schedule. That wouldn’t happen with a trad publisher.

What is your favorite quote, by whom, and why?

There’s a Chinese proverb that says, “You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair.”

It reminds me not to sweat the little stuff. (:

Quickies:


Favorite kind of chocolate?

Russell Stover assorted dark chocolates in the fancy box. I buy it for myself all the time.

Cats or dogs?

I have both, but yeah: Cats.

Favorite book or author? Yeah, we know it can be hard to choose! ;)

Caleb Carr. The Alienist is so brilliant.

Right now in your line of site, how many books can you see?

Hundreds.

What book are you reading today?

The Descent by Jeff Long. I can’t even imagine how many hours of research he put into that book.

Have you ever been out of the state where you live?


I love traveling! My last great trip was to Budapest to research a book. We visited Vlad the Impaler’s tomb in the labyrinth beneath Buda Castle.

The Thirteenth Gate
Dominion Mysteries
Book Two
Kat Ross

Genre: Fantasy/mystery
Publisher: Acorn
Date of Publication: June 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9972362-8-6
ASIN: B071RQ142S
Number of pages: 380
Word Count: 88k
Cover Artist: Damonza

Book Description:

Winter 1888. At an asylum in the English countryside, a man suspected of being Jack the Ripper kills an orderly and flees into the rain-soaked night. His distraught keepers summon the Lady Vivienne Cumberland—who's interviewed their patient and isn't sure he's a man at all. An enigmatic woman who guards her own secrets closely, Lady Vivienne knows a creature from the underworld when she sees one. And he’s the most dangerous she's ever encountered.

As Jack rampages through London, Lady Vivienne begins to suspect what he's searching for. And if he finds it, the doors to purgatory will be thrown wide open…

Across the Atlantic, an archaeologist is brutally murdered after a Christmas Eve gala at the American Museum of Natural History. Certain peculiar aspects of the crime attract the interest of the Society for Psychical Research and its newest investigator, Harrison Fearing Pell. Is Dr. Sabelline's death related to his recent dig in Alexandria? Or is the motive something darker?

As Harry uncovers troubling connections to a serial murder case she’d believed was definitively solved, two mysteries converge amid the grit and glamor of Gilded Age New York. Harry and Lady Vivienne must join forces to stop an ancient evil. The key is something called the Thirteenth Gate. But where is it? And more importantly, who will find it first?

Excerpt:


The Greymoor Lunatic Asylum made a grim impression even in daylight. It crouched at the end of a long, treeless drive, barred windows gleaming beneath a peaked slate roof. After her first interview with Dr. William Clarence, Lady Vivienne Cumberland had taken a hard look at those bars. She’d strongly suggested to the asylum superintendent that he move Dr. Clarence to a room with no window at all.
That had been just over a month ago. Now, in the darkest hour of the night, with rain coursing down the brick façade and thunder rattling the turrets, Greymoor looked like something torn from the pages of a penny dreadful, hulking and shadowed despite the lamps burning in every window. At the wrought-iron front gate, a black brougham drew to a halt. Following a brief exchange with the occupants, two officers from the Essex constabulary waved it through, immediately ducking back into the shelter of a police wagon.
“I told them to watch him,” Lady Cumberland muttered, yanking her gloves on. “To keep him isolated from the staff and other patients. Clearly, they didn’t listen. The fools.”
Alec Lawrence gripped the cane resting across his knees. He had been present at the interview, had looked into Dr. Clarence’s eyes, a blue so pale they reminded him of a Siberian dog. The memory unsettled him still, and he wasn’t a man who was easily shaken.
“We don’t know what happened yet,” he pointed out. “Superintendent Barrett can hardly be faulted considering we withheld certain information. I rather doubt he would have believed us anyway.”
Vivienne scowled. “You may be right, but it was only a matter of time. I’ve known that since the day Clarence was brought here. The S.P.R. made a very bad mistake entrusting him to Greymoor.”
“We still don’t know for sure—”
“Yes, we do. The killings stopped, didn’t they?”
“That could be for any number of reasons,” he said stubbornly.
“Including that the creature who committed them is behind bars. Or was, at least.”
Alec Lawrence buttoned his woolen greatcoat. This was not a new debate. “Perhaps. But there’s not a scrap of hard evidence against him. Nothing but a single reference in a report by some American girl and Clarence’s own odd demeanor. Had there been more, he would have been locked up tight in Newgate Prison.”
Vivienne turned her obsidian gaze on him. With her high cheekbones and full lips, she might have been thirty, or a decade in either direction. Only Alec and a handful of others knew better.
“That American girl is Arthur Conan Doyle’s goddaughter and she seemed quite clever to me. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway,” she added quietly. “Walls don’t hold Dr. Clarence’s sort for long.”
“Look,” he said, softening. “For what it’s worth, I think we did the right thing taking him off the streets. I just....” He trailed off, unsure how he meant to finish the thought.
“You don’t trust my judgment anymore. Since Harper Dods.”
“That’s not even remotely true. I simply think we need to keep open minds on the matter. The signs aren’t there, Vivienne. I’m the first to admit Dr. Clarence is an odd duck, perhaps worse. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t human.”
Vivienne arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “And yet here we are, summoned by Sidgwick in the middle of the night. I wonder if he’s regretting his decision?”
The note from Henry Sidgwick, president of the Society for Psychical Research, had arrived in the form of a small, bedraggled messenger boy pounding on Lady Vivienne’s front door in St. James an hour before. It was both vague and ominous, citing an “unfortunate incident” involving Dr. Clarence and urging all due haste to the asylum.
“I suppose we’ll find out in a minute,” Alec said, turning his collar up. He swiped a hand through chestnut hair and jammed a top hat on his head. “Off to the races.”
A gust of rain shook the carriage as it slowed at the front entrance. A six-story tower capped by a Roman clock and white spire anchored two wings extending on either side. Unlike most asylums, which had separate annexes for men and women, Greymoor’s residents were all male. The north wing housed those poor souls suffering from garden-variety disorders like dementia and melancholia. The other was reserved for the so-called “incurables,” a euphemism for the criminally insane. Violent, unpredictable men deemed unfit for prison.

Despite his doubts, Alec Lawrence would have happily had the lot of them over for tea rather than spend five minutes in the company of Dr. William Clarence. In his heart, he wondered if Vivienne’s instincts were correct. But he wanted her to be wrong because the alternative was far worse.

 About the Author:

Kat Ross worked as a journalist at the United Nations for ten years before happily falling back into what she likes best: making stuff up. She's the author of the dystopian thriller Some Fine Day, the Fourth Element fantasy series (The Midnight Sea, Blood of the Prophet, Queen of Chaos), and the new Dominion Mysteries. She loves myths, monsters and doomsday scenarios.






Interview with Angelina Kerner, author of Deity's Soulmate!!


What was the inspiration behind Deity's Soulmate?

When I was in high school, I wanted to write about the gods. I blame Homer. My original story was about Gardenia being saved from imprisonment at the hands of an evil sorcerer. I had it  in ninth grade but it lay forgotten until I became a young adult. After revisiting the character, I began thinking it would be better to start her story during her youth. I put a lot of thought into this backstory and Deity’s Soulmate was born.

Will there be a followup to Deity's Soulmate, or is it a standalone?

It’s going to be book 1of The Goddess Training Trilogy and it covers 4 days of creation. Book 2 will have days 5 to 13 and, finally, book 3 will be the original story idea about rescuing Gardenia. In book 2, there will be more conflict and character growth. More secrets would be learned and the big bad dragon will be revealed.

I am a huge fan of Mythology! Did you have to do a lot of research for this novel?

I did some, yes. At first I wanted to invent my own galaxy names, for example, but then I decided to use real galaxies. I believe that only three of the galaxies in the novel are made up. Since the story is about her becoming a creation goddess, I had to research individual gods, nature, and characteristics of elements that are present in the novel. It was very fun.

What drives you to write YA?

I’m actually switching over to writing NA because it’s more relatable. Even though I’m living with a teenager in the house, I find that I can’t relate to her as much anymore. Becoming a mother feels like it has increased the generation gap, so writing successfully for teens may be too daunting, now. Deity’s Soulmate is at the threshold of new adult genre as Gardenia grows older with the coming of age, she leaves her innocence behind (well hopefully).

My next novel, Into the Flames, is about a 22-year-old girl who’s looking forward to starting college (a little late, but she wasn’t privileged and worked hard to earn money for her education).   But she’s denied that life because a prophesized destiny gets in the way.

How long have you been writing?

I was interested in writing since eleventh grade when a teacher told me that I would never be a writer. I guess that I really wanted to prove her wrong. However, I only began working on novels and novellas in 2013 after joining an online community that no longer exists. There, I saw just how many writers strive to make their work known and I wanted to do the same. When I read their shared works, it made me want to take a step further and get published. What started as a challenge became a hobby and later a big part of my life.

Do you have any pets? Personally, I am a cat lover!


I have several cats! Here’s two photos of my three cuties. All of them are best friends and, as you can see, very photogenic. ^_^

YA Fantasy and Adventure
Date Published: April 1, 2017

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Purchase Links


From author Angelina Kerner (Seven Hours: Challenge Accepted) comes an all-new fantasy series about Gardenia, a daughter of Athena, and her 100 years of coursework on how to create whole new worlds and subjects of her own.

A sheltered schoolchild in a realm of condescending gods and goddesses, Gardenia goes to Earth on a dare to  witness the unsavory side of mankind for herself.  Believing she can do better, she undertakes the formation of an entire galaxy, but without permission from Zeus.   

Zeus disciplines her by assigning an epic 13-fold creational lesson destined to take her a century to complete.  But he is taken aback once more when she makes an odd choice.  She vows to fulfill this knowledge quest by tracking down a lost race of dragons, and discovering the secrets they’ve kept since time began.

Searching the universe to meet even one dragon may be a fool’s errand, but that’s the least of her worries.  For ancient wartime resentments linger between the nations of dragons and deities, and some dragons would attack Gardenia on sight!  

Yet she ventures out undaunted, learning unexpected things about nomadic life, tender love, and mortal peril along the way.  The biggest surprise of all, though, goes by the name of Ri.  Ri may be the man of her dreams, the voice in her head, the dragon she’s seeking, or all these things and more...
Meanwhile, the Fates brew sordid plans of their own and Hera jealously sets traps and trials for Gardenia at every chance.  What’s a young goddess to do?  Flight or fight?


About the Author


Angelina Kerner, a Pisces, was born during the Chinese astrological year of the Snake, which she absolutely adores. Angelina loves snakes, and was once allowed to feed one a rat. That was an experience of a lifetime.

She moved around during her young years from Novosibirsk to Kaluga in Russia. Finally settling in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, her teenage years were spent dancing in troupes and performing on stage. The dances ranged from waltz to tango, from Jewish to Russian, and finally belly dance. She was accepted into six out of seven universities, and decided to stay close to her family. Angelina pursued a psychology degree until she saw graduates working for Starbucks and then decided to pursue another career path in the department of Social Sciences. The difficult coursework, her job, and finding her life partner inspired her to turn to writing which, at the time, wasn't so much a hobby as a way to escape daily routine.

She worked on countless stories, never really finishing them, but came to understand that flash fiction wasn't for her. After finding an online community where she met her best friend, her writing flourished, making publication a possible next step. She is now the author of one published novel for both young adults and adults, and aspires to publish her other fantasy and crime fiction works soon. Her next project involves a competition for a beautiful phoenix. That novel will, hopefully, make its debut in 2017 or 2018. Angelina currently divides her time between her family, work, writing, and a lot of cats.

Visit her website at www.kernerangelina.live

Contact Links


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Excerpt & #Giveaway: Harper’s Place by Sheryl Winters @WintersSheryl


Harper’s Place
by Sheryl Winters

GENRE: Romance

BLURB:

Harper Grey is fed up with over-bearing men. Her father wants to sell the family hamburger joint to her brother because a woman could never make it successful.

Harper knows she has the same flair for business as her mother, and sexy Navy SEAL Patrick O’Brien dares her to prove it to the world.

When duty calls and Patrick must leave her side, will Harper be strong enough to make her dream a reality?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excerpt :

“How would you bring in new business, though?”

I’m amazed that he seems to find our conversation interesting. He’s an audience willing to listen and I’ve not had that in a long time. Damn this crush of mine. It won’t be easy to tame after tonight.

“New menu items, specials, things like that. Start serving dessert, like pies. Easy cook items. With the new burgers I’ve created and a new décor, I’d open in the summer when the air is fresh and everyone is happy to be out of the snow, hungry for grilled food. I think we could do fine.”

“What’s your hold up?”

“Tony, Dad. It’s complicated.” I shrug. His arm feels good, and I have the overwhelming urge to nuzzle against it. "Did you kiss Amy Parker when you were twelve? She still brags about it." Did I just ask him about kissing? What is wrong with me? Will this mouth of mine never shut up? Stop it, Stop it, stop it!

"That I did, in a closet over at Robert Anderson’s house."

"Ew."

"I was twelve and desperate. You can't blame me. I do blame that stupid soda bottle.  And your first kiss?" There is a challenge in his voice.

"Kevin Monroe at the Klines Movie Theater. He sent me a six-page note the next day about how much he loved me, and I freaked out and dumped him."

"Any regrets?"

I choke back a giggle. "Naw, ‘cept I remember I liked his cologne. It could have been aftershave, but it was nice." It’s not half as nice as the Aramis that Patrick has on. Something about it sends a shiver up my spine that has nothing to do with the zombie waiting in Dad’s office.

"The dark isn't so bad, now is it?"

"I guess not."

Silence surrounds us. The fear that enveloped me seems to disappear.

"Are you seeing anyone?"

"No." It sounds terrible now that I've said it out loud. Like I’m admitting to being a desperate and dateless leper.

"So," he drawls out, "ever thought of dating a military guy?" He squeezes my fingers.

Is he serious?

His fingertip smooths over the rough callouses I've gained from years of hard work. Suddenly my wasted evening of not going out to celebrate is starting to look better. "I think it would depend on which military guy."

"You're killing me. You know that, don’t you?" His strangled tone only sets off a case of the giggles.

"Are you asking me out, Patrick?"

"Trying to, but you're not making it easy.” The challenge is back in his voice.

"I wouldn't mind a date or two,” I manage to squeak out. Breathe, Harper, just breathe, calmly through your nose, out your mouth. Sainted Mother of God, Patrick asked me out! I hit the jackpot! Now all I have to do is not hit him.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:


I never set out to be an author. Only a storyteller. Some days I succeed better than others.

Links:

Website: http://sherylwinters.weebly.com/
Blog: http://sherylwinters.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sherylwinters123
Twitter:https://twitter.com/WintersSheryl

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GIVEAWAY 


Sheryl will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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