Friday Features: Rachel McClellan

Rachel McClellan

Featured Author

Short bio

I was born and raised in Idaho, a place secretly known for its supernatural creatures. When I’m not in my writing lair, I’m partying with my husband and four small children. My love for storytelling began as a child when the moon first possessed the night. For when the lights went out, my imagination painted a whole new world. And what a scary world it was…

1.       Where's the strangest place you've ever written?

I’ve written in many different places because with four small children I have to write wherever I can. I write in the gym frequently. I’ve also written in forests, graveyards, McDonalds, movie theaters, the emergency room… I love my AlphaSmart!

2.       What book do you wish you had written?

My answer varies based on what I’m currently writing. Right now I wish I wrote Mary Shelley’s, Frankenstein, or The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.

3.       What inspires you? 

Music. Dark, moody stuff. Or what I like to call Warrior Music, which is just powerhouse instrumental, classical type stuff. That doesn’t make any sense so just check out James Dooley, Epic Score or Tom Salta and you’ll know what I mean. Listening to this type of music makes for the best action scenes.

4.       When did you start writing?

I’ve always dabbled in writing, but in 2007, while standing on the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, I made a commitment to make writing a permanent part of my life. Before that I lacked the confidence. Something in Ireland made me believe in myself.

5.       Tell us three things about you that aren’t about writing.

I like to ride dirt bikes. Skydiving is awesome. I love taking my four kids on adventures.

Connect with Rachel McClellan

Website | Blog | Goodreads | Amazon | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

BOOK BLURB:

Llona Reese is used to living on the run. After the Vykens killed her parents, she knew they would eventually come for her too. She can’t take any chances. But when she starts to make friends for the first time in her life, she gets careless and lets her guard down. Big mistake.

As an Aura, Llona can manipulate light and harness its energy. But if she wants to survive, Llona will have to defy the Auran Council and learn to use her power as a weapon against the Vyken whose sole desire is to take her light. Now she’s caught in something even bigger than she can understand, with a power she can’t wield, and no one she can trust, except, just maybe, a mysterious stranger.

In this breathtaking and romantic adventure, Rachel McClellan delivers a truly mesmerizing story that will keep you guessing to the very end

Grab Your Copy

Amazon  (US) | Amazon (UK)  |  Barnes & Noble |

Friday Features: Rebecca Hamilton

Rebecca Hamilton

Featured Author

Short bio

Rebecca Hamilton writes Paranormal Fantasy, Horror, and Literary Fiction. She lives in Florida with her husband and three kids, along with multiple writing personalities that range from morbid to literary. Having a child diagnosed with autism has inspired her to illuminate the world through the eyes of characters who see things differently. Rebecca Hamilton is represented by the ever-more-amazing Rossano Trentin of TZLA.

1.       Where's the strangest place you've ever written?

I often write on napkins when my husband drags me out to the bar with him :)

2.       What book do you wish you had written?

The Bible. What a following that one has, huh?

3.       What inspires you?

My family.

4.       When did you start writing?

I’ve been writing all my life, as long as I can remember, but I started taking it seriously after my youngest was born.

5.       Tell us three things about you that aren’t about writing.

I love chocolate. Touching cotton balls makes my skin crawl like nails down a chalkboard. I’m scared of bees.

Connect with Name

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | Pinterest

YouTube | Amazon Author Page

FOREVER GIRL 

BOOK BLURB:

Sophia's family has skeletons, but they aren't in their graves.

At twenty-two, practicing Wiccan Sophia Parsons is scratching out a living waiting tables in her Rocky Mountain hometown, a pariah after a string of unsolved murders with only one thing in common: her.

Sophia can imagine lots of ways to improve her life, but she'd settle for just getting rid of the buzzing noise in her head. When the spell she casts goes wrong, the static turns into voices. Her personal demons get company, and the newcomers are dangerous.

One of them is a man named Charles, who Sophia falls for despite her better judgment. He has connections that might help her unveil the mystery surrounding her ancestor's hanging, but she gets more than she bargains for when she finally decides to trust him. 

Survival in his world, she learns, means not asking questions and staying out of the immortal council's way. It's a line she crossed long ago. If Sophia wants to survive the council and save the people she loves, she must accept who she is, perform dark magic, and fight to the death for her freedom.

Grab Your Copy

Visit all purchasing options for print and eBook here.

Friday Features: Brandon R Luffman

Brandon R. Luffman

Featured Author

Born in Statesboro, Georgia in 1976, Brandon Luffman was raised in rural North Carolina from the time he was old enough to walk. In the sixth grade he discovered The Chronicles Of Narnia. Soon after that, he was on to Stephen King and Arthur C. Clarke. At the same time, he was making his first forays into writing fiction. After creating a series of short fantasy pieces for a class assignment that were received with praise, he was hooked on writing fiction for the entertainment of others. Now Brandon writes supernatural horror as well as fantasy, science fiction and other genres. His short fiction is available online in various formats. Brandon still lives on the family farm in northwestern North Carolina with his wife and family. Taking inspiration from his homeland, he brings southern sensibilities and a modern flair to these classic genre themes. His upcoming survival horror novel, Frostwalker, is expected to be released in 2012.

1.       Where's the strangest place you've ever written?

I’m a bit boring in this case. I’ve probably not written anywhere stranger than in bed.

2.       What book do you wish you had written?

This is tough to answer, as any book wouldn’t be the same book if it was done by a different author. But, I think I would be very happy to have been responsible for The Stand, or perhaps, if I can pick a trilogy, Memory, Sorrow, And Thorn by Tad Williams.

3.       What inspires you?

I find myself being inspired by a wide variety of things and I never know what might trigger an idea for a story, or the start of one. My novel Frostwalker started as a single scene that was inspired by the way my feet slipped slightly as I walked on frost-covered leaves one night. I imagined a man walking through darkness the same as me, but not simply going to the mailbox. What was he doing out in the dark, alone? But, I think the thing that most drives me to write is the response I get from readers. I love having an impact on someone else through my writing.

4.       When did you start writing?

I first discovered that I enjoyed writing fiction in the 6^th grade. However, it wasn’t until high school that I began to seriously consider being a novelist. Unfortunately, after high school, I drifted away from writing. It wasn’t until I started participating in National Novel Writing Month in 2007 that I got back into it and only since late 2011 that I’ve been seriously working to build a career of it.

5.       Tell us three things about you that aren’t about writing.

I’m a geek – into gaming (both tabletop and PC), computer programming, electronics, etc.

I have phobias of bees and heights - although I love flying, oddly enough.

I’ve been known to wear a kilt when going out to have a good time. Kilts rock!

Connect with Brandon

Blog | Twitter | Smashwords | Facebook | Google+

Barnes & Noble | Lulu | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page

 

There’s something in the woods behind Jake Marsden’s house – and someone wants him to find it. A strange dream shatters his sleep, night after night, and a compulsion to find the dark presence in the forest wars with his logical and ordered nature. What’s a geek to do?

When his small hometown of Wynn falls under an ancient curse, Jake will find himself in a battle against creatures worse than any he’s faced in a game. Playing for keeps, it will be geek versus god in the fight to stop an evil force bent on destroying everything he holds dear.

Coming Soon!

For more info and to sign up to be notified when Frostwalker is released, visit the Frostwalker page at Brandon’s blog!

Friday Features: Louann Carroll

Louann Carroll

Featured Author

Louann Carroll is a Native Californian living in the Sierra Nevada foothills with her husband, Dennis.

Mother to three children, she is an avid rock, fossil, and gem hunter who enjoys sharing her finds with family and friends. She is a student of alternative religion, archaeology, anthropology, and paleontology.

After leaving her position as C.E.O. in the Bay Area, she has pursued her writing career with much success. Winner of the 2010 Crescent Moon Press award for best novel, she has gone on to write radio talk shows and articles on adoption.

She is the author of Gemini Rising, a sci-fi romance, A Shadow of Time, a paranormal romance, Journeys, The Adventure of Leaf, and numerous children's stories.

1.       Where's the strangest place you've ever written?

We have a Maidu grinding stone in the family. It has eight circular depressions where the Maidu would grind acorns. In the middle of the stone is a comfortable, shallow circular depression where I can sit. Thankfully, my computer has a long battery life.

2.       What book do you wish you had written?

The Stand, by Stephen King. The novel has everything I enjoy—paranormal , mystery, horror, and apocalyptic elements.  *yummy*

3.       What inspires you?

Inspiration comes when I’m driving home from work. It’s about a twenty-minute commute and while I’m driving, tons of ideas flood into my mind. Sometimes, all it takes is a little peace and quiet to get my brain in gear.

4.       When did you start writing?

In college, I took a philosophy class from a wonderful person who had left the clergy and became a teacher. His name was Dr. Steinke. We had to write a thesis and one of the things we discussed in class was multidimensionality. I was fascinated with the concept as it takes into consideration physics and philosophy.  I wrote my thesis and when I got it back, he’d taped a note to it that said, in large caps, “WHY AREN’T YOU A WRITER? I am convinced!”

That’s when I started writing and I’ve never stopped.

5.       Tell us three things about you that aren’t about writing.

a.       I have seven grandchildren.

b.      I’ve been married forty-two years.

c.       I’m fifty-seven. You do the math. *grin*

Connect with Louann

Website www.louanncarroll.com 

Blog www.louanncarroll.com/blog

Twitter @LouannCarroll

 Facebook www.facebook.com/AuthorLouannCarroll

Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1426100.Louann_Carroll

 Amazon Author Page http://www.amazon.com/Louann-Carroll    

 A SHADOW OF TIME BOOK BLURB:

Consumed by a childhood filled with terror and pain, Kellyn O’Brien strives to create the perfect family. Then, disaster strikes. Her husband is dead. Three weeks later, she discovers her son is heir to Shadow Ley, a nineteenth century estate located in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

Still reeling from Michael's death, Kellyn moves to Shadow Ley. Soon after her arrival, the ordinary becomes the extraordinary: broken drinking glasses repair themselves, stair rails that were once old are now new, and suddenly the estate of Shadow Ley is not what it seems. 

She turns to the local historian and hears the tale of Shenahobet, the portal guardian, and the Hutto-pah, a tribe of Native Americans related to the Maya. She meets John, a doctor, who experiences visions of other times and places. Her dreams turn into nightmares with windows into past lives, hints of multidimensionality, and the promise of life beyond death.

 Legends abound and so Shadow Ley, the home Kellyn had hoped would bring peace to herself and her children, becomes mired first in doubt, then in terror, and finally in love eternal.

Grab Your Copy

Amazon (US)

http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Time-Louann-Carroll/dp/1937254690/ref=la_B001K838AK_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348684737&sr=1-1

Amazon (UK)

 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shadow-Time-Louann-Carroll/dp/1937254690/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348684656&sr=1-1

Goodreads

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15744030-a-shadow-of-time

Barnes & Noble

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-shadow-of-time-louann-carroll/1111906408?ean=9781937254698