The Residents of this Town Eat Zombies for Lunch by William McNally (Guest Post)

The Residents of this
Town Eat Zombies for Lunch

Welcome
to Auraria, a place the dead have never left. The setting of my latest book, Beneaththe Veil, is a ghost town forgotten by time and most everyone else. To
those lucky enough to drive by and keep going, this town is just a whisper from
the past with crumbling buildings and overgrown fields dotted with rusting farm
implements.  

Like
any place, this town has many sides and only the truly unfortunate get to see
them all. These people, the ones that stumble too close, quickly realize it’s
impossible to leave. So, what do you do if you find yourself trapped in this
unforgiving place? You try to make friends. Here’s a helpful listing of the
town’s most prominent citizens:

Barry (Rhodes)
Ryan
is a successful sculptor suffering from a terminal illness. Adopted when he was
an infant, he is forced to seek out a blood relative for a transfusion to save
his life. Frequently creates art work weighing several tons…

Jen Ryan, Barry’s adopted younger sister, is brave, independent and free
spirited. She works as a free lance photographer and lives in downtown Atlanta with her
boyfriend Jackson. Prefers shooting in black and white…

Jackson is Jen’s boyfriend. He’s an easy-going
dude who runs a small record shop. When he’s not slinging vinyl, he likes
hanging with Jen and her brother. Drives a ‘70s van…

Willow is a young, local girl with a charitable
heart who possesses a set of very unique talents. Loves children…

James Downs survived a
plane crash that stranded him in Auraria.  Retired military…

Don “Doc” Randolph is the de
facto mayor of Auraria. Doc provides free medical care to his neighbors…

Evangeline Rhodes hails from
an uncertain past and preys on the locals. She’s not really a brunette…

Ezra Rhodes is
Evangeline’s constant companion and takes care of many of her more unpleasant
tasks. Once owned a bank in town…

Owen Bigsby loves to
sample the corn liquor grown locally and is Auraria’s own town drunk. Lets
others control him…

Well,
there you have it, a sampling of the Auraria locals and don’t worry, there’s plenty
more of them to meet and many to be avoided.

Special
thanks to Beauty in Ruins for hosting the residents of Auraria, a town in ruins
located deep Beneaththe Veil.

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Beneath the Veil

William McNally



Genre: Paranormal/Science Fiction/Horror

ISBN: B00CZDVZLI

ASIN: 978-1481953627

Number of pages: 276

Word Count: 44,966

Amazon Paperback   Kindle

Book Description:

Welcome Beneath the Veil, a Place Where the Dead Have Never Left...

With his life turned upside down, a terminally ill man seeks answers from a family he never knew. Barry Ryan, a successful sculptor, goes on a journey to find his roots and the extraordinary family that somehow evades death and ties him to a terrifying future. 

Driven to find answers, Barry is joined by his sister and her boyfriend on the road to Auraria, a mysterious ghost town where terrible secrets lie hidden since the days of gold and greed.

All is well until they cross the city limits and fall beneath the veil, a place where the bizarre rules the living, and the living are prey trapped in an ever-changing web. 

Generations of conflict come to light as these unfortunate visitors struggle to survive. Echoes of the past are lethal here...in this place where the dead have never left.

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About the Author:

William McNally is a former executive, husband and animal advocate based in the mountains of Dahlonega, Georgia. Drawn to dark and thought provoking stories, he released his first book, Four Corners Dark in 2012 and recently followed it with his second, Beneath the Veil. Visit him online at williammcnallybooks.com for updates and events.



Look for William's next release, The Knights of Moonshine, spring 2014.

Web – www.williammcnallybooks.com

Twitter - https://twitter.com/WilliamMcNally

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/WilliamMcNallyWriter

Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6477654.William_McNally

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10 Fun Things to Do During the Zombie Apocalypse by Melanie Karsak (#giveaway)

10
Fun Things to Do During the Zombie Apocalypse

By
Melanie Karsak

I
hate in when people in movies act like they have never seen a movie. Everyone
knows you should head out the front door rather than going up the stairs.
Everyone knows to check the back seat of their car. Everyone knows you should
shoot a zombie in the brain. Am I right? Why do characters in movies always act
like there is no precedence for the apocalypse? In particular, I hated the
scene in Zombieland when the two sisters went to the amusement park. Even if
the park was “zombie free,” common sense dictates that zombies will notice lights
and sounds blaring in a world otherwise devoid of lights and sounds. Drawing
attention to yourself during the zombie apocalypse is just plain stupid, but
there are some fun ways to amuse yourself and stay safe at the same time. The
residents of Hamletville, the survivors of z-day in my novel “The Harvesting,”
have a few suggestions if and when you ever need to know . . . what can I do
for fun during the zombie apocalypse?

10.
Commandeer a police cruiser! First, you wire separator will protect you from
anything lurking in the backseat. Second, there is probably a loaded weapon
inside. Bonus. Third, it can haul ass if needed. Lastly, haven’t you always
wanted to do that? Just don’t fall into a movie trap: don’t turn on the sirens.

9.
Steal stuff and things! When I say stuff and things, I mean guns and food. Keep
your focus on the bare necessities, but staying alive during the apocalypse is
really fun! Steal away, survivor. Your life depends on it!

8.
Set things on fire! You might not have any pyromaniac inclinations, but when
you encounter a building full of zombies, strike a match! I know the movies
would probably have you trying to sneak into the building for some
desperately-needed supply, but try to resist. 
After all, whatever it is, you can probably still find it at Walmart.

7.
Pick up a new hobby! Haven’t you always wanted to wield a machete? Didn’t you
ever wonder what it would be like to shoot a machine gun? Now is your chance!
Not the physical type? Try learning herb-lore or how to hot-wire vehicles.
There’s nothing like the apocalypse to force you to try out some new skills!

6.
Try to figure out your “role” in the group. This will help you determine how
long you’re going to live. Are you the hero? Are you the side-kick? Are you the
romantic love interest? Are you the one who is going to turn to the dark side?
Are you wearing a red shirt? If so, I suggest you change it immediately. Once you
know your role, you can plan accordingly!

5.
Borrowing one from the 2004 Dawn of the
Dead, here is a fun game: Pick a perch on a rooftop. Identify zombie movie
star look-alikes and fire away! Make it a challenge. Who can take out zombie
Howard Stern? Zombie Rosie O’Donnell? It’s fun, safe, and you can shoot a
Justin Bieber look-alike from 100 feet away!

4.
Borrowing one from The Walking Dead .
. . zombie gladiator fighting! Before everything went to hell in Woodbury, the
Saturday night entertainment included coliseum-esque battles. But who needs
lions when you have zombies!!

3.
Borrowing one form Night of the Comet
. . . go shopping! You’re probably going to die soon, so why night take a
moment to indulge that last inclination toward materialism. Go to your death
wearing 10-carat diamonds!

2.
Live like you’re going to die! (Because you probably are.) She/he might be a
hot mess, and they probably haven’t seen a toothbrush or a stick of deodorant
in a month, but you’ll both be dead soon. Put your “zombie goggles” on and go
out on a high note.

1.
When you see you ex walking around all zombified, just walk away.

Like
tales of the undead? Check out “The Harvesting,” by Melanie Karsak. “The Harvesting” is a dark fantasy novel that chronicles the z-day event from the
perspective of Layla Petrovich. Layla, returning to Hamletville just as the
world begins to die, finds herself struggling to protect the people of her
small home town. But zombies are not her only problem. Layla soon finds herself
in the middle of a battle for our middle earth. “The Harvesting,” the first
novel in the series, is available at Amazon.com, Smashwords, and Barnes andNoble.

Chapter
3

“This is a Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol. Most
policemen use this gun. Comes with 17 rounds. You pop in the cartridge like
this and . . .” Grandma squeezed the trigger, blasting a decorative plate with
a picture of fruit on it. It used to hang in the dining room. Ignoring my
astonished impression, she handed the gun to me. “Didn’t you go hunting with
the Campbells?”

“Yes. I can shoot a gun, Grandma,” I said bewildered.
Why in the hell did my grandmother have a semi-automatic pistol? We were
standing behind the barn. She had guns laid out on the lid of an old feed
barrel. I set the gun down.

“Good, good, then you’ll have no problem. Now, this is
.44 Magnum, like the Dirty Harry
movie. It has good stopping power. Lift up the safety and boom,” Grandma said
pulling the trigger. The gun barrel let out a resounding noise, shattering
Grandma’s old mantle-piece vase. “The man told Grandma this is a kill-shot gun,
very powerful,” she said and set the gun down.

I picked it up, took aim at an old porcelain figurine,
and fired. The smiling cherub exploded into a puff of dust.

“Very good! Ahh, here we are,” she said picking up what
looked like a machine gun. “This is Colt 9mm sub-machine gun. Grandma had a
hard time getting this one, but a nice man on the phone, of course he was
Russian, helped Grandma get this one ordered for you. This gun can shoot almost
1000 rounds per minute. Very fast, no?” Grandma said and launched a spray of
bullets toward the remaining china pieces she had set up on the fence-post.
“Here, you try. Watch for kick back,” she said and handed the gun to me.

I set the gun down and took Grandma by the hands.
“Grandma, what in the hell is going on? You’re scaring me.”

“Shoot first,” she said, picking the Colt back up and
handing it to me.

I sighed. The gun, surprisingly, didn’t feel heavy in my
hands. I held it as I had observed Grandma doing, and as every drug smuggler on
T.V. had done, and let off an easy rattle of ammo.

“You see, very easy.”

I set the gun back down. “That is enough, Grandma.
Please. What is happening?”

Grandma inhaled deeply and took me by the chin. She
looked into my eyes and then kissed me on both cheeks. “First, we’ll put guns
away,” she said, picking up the weapons. “Oh, I also bought grenades. Just like
on T.V.: pull the pin, throw, it explodes.”

“Grenades?”

After we had restocked Grandma’s personal arsenal, we
went back inside.

“Sit down in living room. Watch T.V. I’ll make tea,” she
said and wandered into the kitchen.

“But Grandma—“

“Tu-tu-tu,” she said to shush me. “You watch T.V. I’ll
come in a minute.”

I flipped on the T.V. to find it turned on the news
channel. At once I saw what appeared to be a riot taking place. At first it
looked like just another scene of violence, but then I started reading the
crawling banners: wide-spread outbreak and rioting in major US cities in the
south and on the west coast. Police had instituted martial law in LA, Miami,
and Atlanta. Outbreak reports were cropping up in all major US and foreign
cities. Airlines had closed all international travel. The United States
President has been moved to a protected location.

The T.V. buzzed with three loud chimes: the Emergency
Broadcast System had been activated. The screen went blue and after a few
minutes, an official looking White House spokesman appeared at a podium, the
emblem of the CDC hanging behind him.

“Grandma? You should come see this,” I called to her. I
felt like someone had poured cold water down my back. Every hair on the back of
my neck was standing on its end. Is this what Grandma had foreseen? Is this why
I was here? Did the spirits tell her something?

“At this point it appears to be a highly contagious
flu-like pandemic,” the Director of the CDC was saying.

“Citizens are urged to stay inside their homes. Military
personnel have been dispatched to major US cities,” the White House spokesman
added.

A reporter asked why the pandemic seemed to happen
almost overnight. I noticed then that the press were all wearing surgical
masks.

“Incidents of flu have been steadily on the rise for the
last one week which has exacerbated accurate diagnosis. The symptoms of this
particular strain resemble seasonal flu at the onset—body pain, fever, and
vomiting—but gradually worsen with additional non-normative symptoms,” the
Director of the CDC explained.

“Non-normative? What does that mean, and how is it being
spread?” a female reporter asked. I recognized her from the President’s regular
Press Club. I’d seen her in person once at a downtown café. She’d been eating a
massive plate of fries.

The Director of the CDC gave a side-long look toward the
White House spokesman. “Citizens should avoid direct physical contact with the
sick until we can pin-point the cause,” the CDC Director said at last.

“Is there a vaccine or immunization?” another reporter
asked.

“Until the cause is identified, it is difficult to
develop a vaccine, but we are working around the clock analyzing possible
contaminants,” the Director replied.

“What is the mortality rate?” someone asked.

The Director of the CDC looked uncomfortable. “It is
difficult to ascertain. At this point the mortality rate appears to be 100%,
but post-mortem there appears to be brain activity-”

“No further questions at this time,” the White House
spokesperson said with a scowl and ushered the Director of the CDC out of the
room.

Grandma sat down beside me, setting a serving tray on
the coffee table. She picked up the remote and muted the T.V.

In the far off distance, we heard the alarm on the town
fire hall wail. It was used to call in emergency volunteer fighter-fighters and
medical personnel or to warn of tornado. Three rings to call for help. Seven
rings for tornado warning. The alarm wailed and did not stop.

“When I was 12 years old, my grandma knew I had the
sight,” my grandmother began. “My mother only had the gift a little. She had,
what you call, good instincts, but she never heard the spirits. I was lucky. I
was born with the mark of the bear,” she said, showing me the small birthmark
on her knee shaped like a bear’s paw, “so everyone knew I would have the gift.
But when I was 12, my grandmother sat me down in her living room and poured me
a cup of tea,” she said as she poured me a cup. I noticed that she had placed
two slices of a strange looking mushroom in the water. “My grandmother told me,
while I was lucky to hear the spirits, there are other things in this world,
some good, some evil. There exists spirits, demons, creatures who are not like
us. She wanted me to see them. She wanted me to be safe from them. She said
that until the great eye inside is awake, we do not see them. She said, you
must awaken and see. That is what my grandmother told me as she handed me a cup
of tea,” my grandma said and then handed the mushroom laden tea to me.

I took the cup. I looked back to the T.V. and saw
strange images of people in hospital gowns being shot by armored military
service.

“Drink,” Grandma encouraged.

I did as she asked, polishing off the cup.

“My grandma loved me. She tried to protect me by making
me see the otherworld. She was right. Afterward, I saw and heard spirits and
those other things in this world. This has kept me away from evil and has
helped me see good. Did you know there are forest spirits living right behind
our house? Ehh, anyway, my grandma loved me, so she made me see. I drank the
tea then slept for almost two days. When I woke, I could see.”

My head felt woozy. Images on the screen melted into a
strange haze. I reached out for my grandmother.

“You sleep now. I’ll go close the fence and bar up the
doors. It has already begun,” she said.

“What has begun?” I asked drunkenly. The room spun, and
I felt like I might be sick.

“The harvest,” she said. I heard the front door open and
close, and then everything went black.

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About the Book:

The Harvesting

The Harvesting Series, Book 1

Melanie Karsak

Genre: Horror/Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Steampunk Press

ISBN-10: 1479327247

ISBN-13: 978-1479327249

ASIN: B009GI3YBY

Number of pages: 394

Word Count: 71000

Cover Artist: Michael Hall Photography

TV interview with book info:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGHrhTv5YAA

Amazon Smashwords

Book Description:

When mankind finally consumes itself, can any spark of humanity survive? Layla fights to keep those she loves alive when the zombie apocalypse unfolds, but she soon learns that zombies are not the only problem. With mankind silenced, those beings living on the fringe seek to reclaim power. Layla must learn who to trust, fast, if she hopes to save what is left of our kind.

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About the Author:

Melanie Karsak, steampunk connoisseur, white elephant collector, and caffeine junkie, resides in Florida with her husband and two children. Visit the author at her blog, melaniekarsak.blogspot.com, to learn more about upcoming projects.

http://melaniekarsak.blogspot.com/

https://twitter.com/MelanieKarsak

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMelanieKarsak

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6539577.Melanie_Karsak

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Dayson City Tour - Moderator Bars by K. L. Kerr (GUEST POST)

Moderator bars are establishments that provide environments for vampires to feed “in moderation”, hence the name.



Due to their size and prominence making them easy targets, Moderator bars are often raided by Archway, despite being the only establishments in the city where humans are guaranteed to be kept safe in the company of vampires.



Attacks are now so commonplace that it has become considered the norm for the Moderators to simply relocate their establishments as the result of a raid, as opposed to any form of retaliation.



Moderator bars are more commonly found around the edges of the city.



[Originally posted as a Pinterest Pin]

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About the Author: 

Born and raised close to North York Moors, initial setting of American Werewolf in London, one might be excused for thinking K. L. Kerr's interests might lie with those furry beasts. But she has always preferred monsters of the fanged variety, having written the very first draft of her novel, The Genesis, aged sixteen.



When not writing, Kerr can be found playing the MMORPG, World of Warcraft, or listening to music from video game soundtracks. She still lives in the North of England, close to The Moors (keeping to the roads, naturally), with two cats who--like all cats--think they're people.



http://bloodofages.com



http://penrefe.com



http://twitter.com/penrefe



http://facebook.com/bloodofages



http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6468895.K_L_Kerr

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The Genesis



The vampires of Dayson city are preparing for war. Having lived in constant fear of the Archway Corporation for decades, desperation has forced them into action. Their solution is to bring the First vampire, Alistair, back from the dead, a warrior famed for eradicating entire armies in the name of his kind.



For fledgling vampire Catrina Malinka, the fabled return of some unknown deity falls low on her list of concerns. Between fending off strangers trying to kill her in her dreams and trying to rein in an uncontrollable power that no one else even understands let alone shares, Catrina is forced to fight her assumed role in the war against Archway, which threatens to send her down a path she doesn’t want to travel.



The first book in The Blood of Ages series, “The Genesis” is an urban fantasy about the inescapable nature of Fate and the corruption of power.

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Knights of the Darkness Chronicles by D.N. Simmons (GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY)

Hello,



My name is D.N. Simmons and I’m very happy to be here with you today. I’m an Urban Fantasy author and my series is called the Knights of the Darkness Chronicles. It features vampires and shifters living openly with humans where neither side fully trusts the other.



I know what you’re thinking, what’s so different about this book that features vampires and shifters? Well, I’m here to tell you, you won’t find another book/series like it. For one thing, it’s multicultural, dark, erotic and witty. With each new book, the plots get grittier, the action gets more intense and the characters evolve as well as their relationships. Also, there's not a second where there isn't something going on.



The KOTDC is riveting, dark, sexy and bold. I really wanted to give readers something new and exciting to delve into in the urban-fantasy/paranormal romance genre. Another thing that sets this series apart is the fact that I don’t have one set main character or even two. I have several and the story is told from a broader perspective giving readers more to love and a better understanding of who these characters are from the heroes to the villains.



The bookstores are filled with series about vampires, shifters and other paranormal beings, that’s why I knew my series had to blaze a brand new avenue for fans of the genre to enjoy and from the wonderful reviews that continue to pour in, I’m happy to know that the Knights of the Darkness Chronicles is sure to entertain.



Thank you so much for this opportunity.

D.N.

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About the Author:



D. N. Simmons lives in Chicago IL., with a rambunctious German Shepherd that's too big for his own good and mischievous kitten that she affectionately calls "Itty-bitty". Her hobbies include rollerblading, billiards, bowling, reading, watching television and going to the movies.



She has been nominated at Love Romances and More, winning honorable mention for best paranormal book of 2006. She has won "Author of the Month" at Warrior of Words. She was voted "New Voice of Today" at Romance Reviews and "Rising Star" at Love Romance and More.



To learn more, and have the opportunity to speak with the author personally, please visit the official website and forum at www.dnsimmons.com   D.N. is always interesting in meeting new and wonderful people.



Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/dnsimmonsKOTD



Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000552496587



Blog: http://authordnsimmons.blogspot.com



GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1396694.D_N_Simmons

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Desires Unleashed (Knights of the Darkness Chronicles Book One)



Desires Unleashed is the first novel in the riveting, highly-addictive and sexually charged Knights of the Darkness Chronicles. Experience the heart-pounding thrill of the chase in this electrifying page-turner as you uncover the mystery behind the series of gruesome killings that have been terrorizing the citizens of Chicago.



When a grisly decapitated corpse pops up on a Chicago Street, drained of blood, the highly-trained, government-funded special police force assigned two of their best detectives to the case. S.U.I.T. Detectives Warren Davis and Matthew Eric delve deep into their investigation to discover just who or what is leaving mutilated bodies in public places. They soon realize that the killer or killers is one step ahead of them and if they are going to stop the menace before another innocent human is viciously attack, they are going to need help.



Natasha Hemingway liked her life just the way it was... normal and supernatural free. The vampires and shape-shifters were just where she wanted them to be--far away from her. All was going well until an unfortunate accident landed her in the hospital. It was then that she discovered she had an ability that could help her save countless lives.



All of a sudden, she finds herself thrust into the dangerous and alluring world of the supernatural and into the arms of two very sexy and deadly vampires.



Original, gritty and sprinkled with just the right amount of humor and wit, the Knights of the Darkness Chronicles will suck you in and take you for a ride you won't forget. You don't want to miss out on this amazing series!





The Guilty Innocent (Knights of the Darkness Chronicles Book Two)



The Guilty Innocent is the second novel in the edgy, action-packed, sexually-charged, Knights of the Darkness Chronicles.



In this installment, Darian, the gorgeous, charismatic and charming master vampire of Chicago is framed for a crime he didn't commit, but why? His lover, Xavier, Natasha and a few others must travel halfway across the world to find out who and why before time runs out and all hell breaks loose!



Original, sexy and gritty, the Knights of the Darkness Chronicles will suck you in and take you for a ride you won't forget!

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The Newfoundland Vampire by Charles O'Keefe (REVIEW)

Let's face it, with a title like The Newfoundland Vampire and a cover like the one to the left, your expectations are pretty well established before you even turn to the first page. I mean, really, nobody goes into a vampire novel like this expecting the Gothic melodrama of Anne Rice or the supernatural terror of Brian Lumley. Instead, invited in by the author, we enter of our own free will, looking for a little fun and entertainment . . . something that Charles O'Keefe certainly provides.



Fortunately, as much as it reminded me of 80s cinematic camp, the story manages to fall on the right side of Nicholas Cage ironic, self-aware humour, à la Vampire's Kiss, rather than full-on Jim Carrey mindless parody, à la Once Bitten. It has a nostalgic feel to it (which probably dates me a bit), but also managed to surprise me often enough to keep me truly entertained.



The Newfoundland Vampire is the story of Joseph O'Reilly, just another average, ordinary, all-around nice guy (and geek), who isn't about to ditch the best looking woman to ever cross his path just because she happens to like the taste of blood - even if her ex-husband is a sadistic killer, out for revenge. Before you scoff, figuring you've heard that tale before, take note of the fact that Joseph is (or, at least, was) a vegetarian, putting a unique spin on both his reluctant vampirism and his emerging heroic sensibilities.



In terms of characters, Joseph really carries the novel, and does it well. He's a realistic, self-effacing young man to whom anyone can easily relate. O'Keefe wisely keeps him balanced, making him a geeky young man, but never a parody of that subculture. More than that, he allows Joseph to retain his humanity, questioning who and what he has become, and looking for ways to not just deal with the hand fate has dealt him, but seize the opportunity to make the most of it. Similarly, while O'Keefe doesn't necessarily add anything substantial to the vampire mythos, I liked the way he approached it, especially with the logical little extrapolations of how and why they hunger the way they do.



If I were to have one complaint, it's that O'Keefe tries to do too many genres at once, merging romance, action, and humour, often a little awkwardly. There's definitely a Buffy/Angel influence here, albeit one that's gender-swapped and turned on its head, but it feels as if the greatest potential has yet to be realized. Despite that, it's a fun read, and one that shows great promise.

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About the Author :

Charles O’Keefe lives in the beautiful province of Newfoundland, Canada, with his wife and two feline ‘children,’ Jude and Esther. He works as an inventory manager and enjoys many hobbies and activities that include writing, reading, watching fantasy/science-fiction movies and television shows, gaming, poker, walking, acting, and of course fantasizing about vampires.



www.charlesokeefe.com

http://p45crok.wordpress.com/

http://twitter.com/#!/TheNLVampire

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=826155483

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My Writing Habits by Charles O'Keefe (author of The Newfoundland Vampire)

                For me writing is a time to
relax, to dream, to fantasize about mythical creatures and imagine how my life
could have turned out differently if I had made different choices. I know some
people can write in public places with all sorts of noise and people around but
for me I need quiet, solitude and something to look at. I also find that
generally I am at my most creative in the morning. For me the best writing
occurs when I’ve had a good night’s sleep, get up at 6 or 6:30 and start
writing by 7 or 7:30 AM.

                I also find that I need an
outline. I like to have a clear idea of where I’m headed in a story so I always
plan a novel at least two or three chapters ahead of time. Before I write I
have a look at my outline (especially if I’m at the end of a chapter). Also at
least once a month I look over the tips my esteemed editor, Pat, gave me from
my first book (this was done during the writing of book 1 as well). I find that
generally I only write in short bursts, 20-30 minutes tops then I’ll look out
the window, possibly check my e-mail or pet one of my cats if they happen to be
on the table with me. Generally I do most of my writing at home but since my
wife gave me an iPad for my birthday a few months back I find myself using that
to do a little writing if I’m at a book signing, a flea market, on a train,
boat or plane. A friend gave me the idea of writing just 1 page a day,
surprisingly by sticking with that I found writing to come along quickly and
before I knew it (well 8 months for the first, 4.5 months for the second) the
rough draft was done.

With
my first book published, I also find it useful to keep a copy of “The Newfoundland Vampire” nearby, it
serves as both an inspiration and a guide as I work on book 2. For me I try to
write about places that I’ve been (or wish I’d been) and either way I like to
look at pictures of that place before I write the scene. As the main character,
Joseph, is about 90% me, it is always a lot of fun to revisit these places in
my mind and see how I would act differently in my imaginary world. For some
scenes I try to imagine the whole thing in my mind and then get it down on the
screen as accurately as possible.

When
it comes to personal preference, I find I enjoy writing the sex, action and
humor scenes the most. The best scenes for me just fly out of my brain and I
worry about cleaning up dialogue, punctuation and grammar at later time. While
I’m certain writing could be taken a scientific approach for me its artistic
expression and the best way I have to communicate my ideas and feelings to the
world.

-Thanks
so much to Bob for hosting, much appreciated! If you haven’t checked it out yet
perhaps you’d like to see the first fruit of my labour, The Newfoundland Vampire, I hear it’s
got bite (sorry couldn’t resist! ;)

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About the Author :

Charles O’Keefe lives in the beautiful province of Newfoundland, Canada, with his wife and two feline ‘children,’ Jude and Esther. He works as an inventory manager and enjoys many hobbies and activities that include writing, reading, watching fantasy/science-fiction movies and television shows, gaming, poker, walking, acting, and of course fantasizing about vampires.



www.charlesokeefe.com

http://p45crok.wordpress.com/

http://twitter.com/#!/TheNLVampire

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=826155483

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Bound by Blood by Shane KP O’Neill (GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY)

BOUND BY BLOOD – MY THOUGHTS

by Shane KP O’Neill

I had so much fun writing this book.  I wrote the first chapters back in November 1992, but didn’t touch it again until September 2006.  With a complete re-write of the original and an extra seventy chapters of the new, Bound By Blood, is a finished product at last.



I have opted to begin the series with this book, Chronicle III.  This is where my reader will see Dracula as a vampire for the first time.  A dear friend suggested to me that my readers probably wouldn’t want to wait until a third book before they saw a vampire.  He was correct of course.  Even though the first two books are laced with some stomach-churning horror, I will not release Chronicle I: The Gates Of Babylon at least until the summer in 2013.  I promise it is worth waiting for though.



The ability to be able to cleverly manipulate famous historical figures and events to suit my purpose is so inspiring for someone like me.  I use the context of the story to expose the shortfalls of the Catholic Church in that period, the weaknesses of that institution and the corruption of the men at the helm.  As a Catholic myself this was a little challenging, but exciting nevertheless.



The story allows me to play with such amazing characters as Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Thomas Wolsey, Elizabeth I, Emperor Charles V, Francois I of France, Pope Alexander VI aka Rodrigo Borgia, Cesare Borgia, Giovanni Borgia, Pope Pius III, Pope Clement VII, Niccolo Machiavelli, Pope Sixtus IV, Pope Paul V and Martin Luther among others.  In all areas of the book I have striven to use real people where possible.  Even though some people may find how I have used some of my characters as somewhat controversial, I am sure you will still find them very engaging.  In every scenario, and in whatever setting I have placed my real historic characters, I have striven to portray them as real people with real emotions and feelings and I have tried to show them in their true light.



But it is the fictional character, Jean Pelou, who steals the show.  I needed someone special to see out the closing sequence of chapters to the story, and chose him.  He is inspired by two of my favourite movie characters.  The first came from Sam Neill’s Brian de Bois-Guilbert in Ivanhoe and Hugh Jackmans’s Van Helsing.  I tried to mould those two images I had in my mind into one to create Pelou.  He certainly turns out to be the hero of the piece.



This is where Dracula’s journey through the ages begins.  His descent into darkness is complete.  He is at one with Lucifer.  With Dracula and the other members of his entourage I have endeavoured to add some new dimensions to the vampire genre and indeed, to take the vampire to another level.  This was no easy task in light of the production line of great vampire movies and books over the last two decades.  I am confident I achieve this despite that fact.  My Dracula is certainly like no other that has gone before.  At least I like to think so.



Bound By Blood is not just a vampire or Gothic horror novel.  It is also an historical adventure, a tale of paranormal fantasy, and a romantic tragedy laced with erotica.  I am sure there is something there to attract readers of every genre.

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About the Author:

The author developed a fascination with Dracula from an early age.  Like many others he was enthralled by Christopher Lee’s portrayal of him on the big screen.  It was in his late teens that he discovered Dracula the man and the love affair began from there.  An avid historian, he studied the period in which the real historical Vlad Dracula lived, 15th Century Balkan, for many years.  It followed from there then that with his love of writing he would always choose Dracula as his subject.



Away from writing, the author has a wide range of interests.  He has lived and travelled all over the world.  He has a love for all things historical, with a particular fascination for medieval Europe.  Anywhere he travels he likes to search out locations with an historical interest.  He is well read and in recent times has a preference for the work of James Patterson, Carlos Luis Zafon, John Grisham, Jeffrey Archer and Stephen King.  He also keeps his library well stocked with historical texts.



For a time he played scrabble on the international stage and represented Wales at the 2007 World Championship in Mumbai, India.  He has a real love of sport, most notably football, rugby union, cricket and boxing.  His great loves in the football world are Manchester United, Glasgow Celtic, Internazionale and lowly Luton Town.  His sporting heroes include George Best, David Beckham, Roy Keane, Ian Botham and Muhammad Ali.  His only other activities away from these are long country walks and time spent with friends and family.



www.draculachronicles.co.uk  website



www.draculachronicles.co.uk/blog blog



@ShaneKPONeill  Twitter



http://www.facebook.com/ShaneONeillsDraculaChronicles  FB author page



http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/12341417-shane-o-neill  Goodreads

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About the Book:

The Dracula Chronicles: Bound By Blood

Shane KP O’Neill



Genre: Gothic Horror



ISBN:  978-0-9556701-0-7

Word Count:   261,281



Cover Artist:  David Evans – GraphicStudio4



Book Trailer:  http://youtu.be/MxL9XzO7x28 



The Dracula Chronicles is the brilliant and terrifying new concept of Dracula. It is an epic journey through the ages where the forces of Light and Darkness struggle for supremacy until the Second Great War, as foretold in the Book of Revelations. This bitter feud began after the creation of mankind. Lucifer’s jealousy leads to the First Great War of the angels. Hundreds of thousands of years on the feud simmers beneath the surface. It plots the course of history as we know it today. Both sides manipulate the major players through the centuries to seek an advantage over the other.



On a cold night in December 1431 in Sighisoara an old gypsy woman delivers a prophecy to the great Vlad Dracul. She tells him he is about to sire two sons, one an angel and the other a devil. He returns to his fortress just as his wife bears him a son, whom he names Vlad. In the very same moment across the country on the border between Transylvania and Hungary a gypsy girl gives birth to another son, Andrei. The die is cast. The twin souls are born. The young Vlad Dracula becomes the instrument of the forces of Darkness. To balance this, the baby Andrei is blessed by the angels and bestowed with awesome powers. These chronicles are their story.

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Giveaway:

As part of his Bound by Blood tour, Shane is offering a signed copy of the book to one lucky commentor as a prize (open to international shipping).

All you have to do is leave a comment below, letting us know who your favourite fictional vampire is!

giveaway ends Sunday (Nov 25th) at midnight

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Jesus was Hung on a Tree? by Richard Rhys Jones (GUEST POST)

Jesus was hung on a tree?

     
My book, "The Division of the Damned" deals with the imaginary
idea that Himmler sent a squad of SS to Transylvania
to make a deal with a vampire count, Count Dracyl. The soldiers, already
disillusioned with their part in the war and the treatment of the conquered
nations, then turn on the vampires and fight them using silver swords and
bullets and the power of a tree.

  
"The power of a tree?" I hear you ask yourself. "What on
earth is he on about, what power does a tree possess?"

    
Well, I proposed in my book that a tree could be used as a Christian
symbol and therefore a point of belief for the soldiers to rally to. In fact,
why a tree at all? How did I get to a tree being the anchor of their faith to
fight the Dracyl? Why not a fish, a spear, a mummified head, a turnip, a sock?
And, perhaps more importantly, was it right for me to make up a Christian
symbol, or am I going to be cast to the fires as a heretic??  

     Okaaaaaay....

     Ever since I read
Sepulchre by James Herbert as a young soldier, I've been interested in the
interweaving of ancient legend and religion. I devoured that book and was
fascinated when he introduced the fact that a whole rook of Old Testament
legends, stories I'd always accepted as Christian history, were in fact
Sumerian. This shocking revelation opened up a whole new aspect of religion to
me.

     I'd never given
the church any thought up to this point. Church to me was a duty I performed
when my name was up on orders to turn up. Sunday morning parade, inspection,
bit of a mumbled sing song, snooze during the sermon then back to barracks, job
done. I simply accepted it as a part of life. Then along came Mr. Herbert and
in one smart passage he managed to rattle me out of my spiritual coma.

     The Creation, Adam
and Eve, The Flood, the Tower
of Babel were originally
put down in texts that stretched far back to the dawn of true civilisation. Not
direct copies but stupendously close. Christianity, the creed I'd so blithely
accepted with nigh on bovine indifference, had simply robbed 'em!

     Now, at that time
my thinking processes were very much different to now. Yes, I was interested in
the idea that Christianity held ancestry in other religions, just as I was
interested in the Third Reich, learning the drums and Warsaw Pact arms and
equipment. However, those enthusiasms wilted like lettuce in a microwave under
the glaring intensity of my social life at that time I simply couldn't find it
in my self to leave the bar and pursue these interests.

     So nothing more
happened in that direction, especially as none of my mates would have been
interested anyway. Imagine the scene:

Kev, (Drinking buddy): Beer Reg?

Me: Yeah, Guinness, did you know that a lot
of the Old Testament stories were based on other even older religious texts?

Kev: Go to bed mate, you've had enough.

 Get the picture?

     Then, fifteen
years later, I discovered the internet and a whole world of information, both
good and bad suddenly opened up to me. Old interests were sparked, ideas took
flame and I unexpectedly learned that you could type with two fingers just as
well as with one, if you practised.

     Whilst bumbling
through Wikipedia I came across the demon Lilith. Lilith is mentioned in so
many cross-religious threads that I had to use her, so I did. She was,
apparently, the first wife of Adam but was banished from Paradise for
being too assertive as she refused to lie under Adam, (as in, nudge nudge wink
wink). Intriguingly, Lilith was supposed to have been the first Biblical
vampire who drank the blood of Abel after Cane had slain him. In the Sumerian
texts she was a sort of demonic hand-maiden to the Sumerian Goddess of love,
Inanna, and bizarrely she also lived in a tree.

     Now I knew I
needed an artefact to focus the fight against the Dracyl and the. "Lilith's
tree" idea attracted me right from the start. Right there, with a tree as
the focal point, I had a link to Lilith and Sumeria. However, the only
Christian bark-wrapped greenery I knew of was a Christmas tree, and that was
hardly the dark, brooding force of all-conquering power I was looking for.

     So I started to
dig for something else. There was of course the Tree of Knowledge, the shrub
that Eve took the fruit off for Adam's dinner, (the naughty minx), but that
seemed so... lame, somehow. So I dug some more and I'd almost given up when
that Eureka moment
struck again! I found some passages relating to Christ being hung on a tree.

  

    Acts 5:30     
"Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree"

    Acts 10:39     "whom they
slew and hanged on a tree"

    Acts 13:29     "they took
him down from the tree"

    1 Peter 2:24   "who his own
self bare our sins in his

                  
own body on the tree"

    Paul: Galatians 3:13 "Christ... being made a
curse upon us...

                  
Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree"

     The inspiration
was saved, now I just had to sell it.

So, is it alright to do it then or am I
in the doodoo?

     It would be wrong
on so many levels for me to claim that Jesus wasn't crucified. Just as it would
be wrong for me to say that he was hung on a tree and cite these tracks from
the Bible as proof. For me, there is no proof to be had from a book that was
written two thousand years ago; a book born out of the strife, egos and schisms
of an upstart cult.

     In my humble
opinion, the modern Bible is not the word of God as the fundamentalists would
have us believe.

     There, I've said it now
and I can't take it back. 

     Why do I say that? Well
here are my reasons and believe me, this is an extremely superficial glossing
over of what is an exceedingly deep topic.

     The oldest known
Bible to date is the "Sinai Bible" in the British Museum.
There are, unbelievably, 14,800 differences from the modern Bible in its ancient
bindings. Think about it, 14,800 divergences from what is written in the
contemporary text. Imagine being asked to copy a book and you make that many
changes?  You'd be fired, or sued even! So what does that say about the
claim that the Bible is "The word of God"?

      Let's dig
deeper.

     If we look back,
the basis for the Christian doctrine as we know it today was set down by
Constantine the Great, at the Council of Nicea in AD 325. However, the
decisions on which stories or gospels should actually make it into the New
Testament weren't made until AD 367, forty two years after!

    " Uhu." I
hear you asking yourself, "so why was it necessary to edit the Bible?"

    Well, before that time,
the Hebrew bible wasn't essentially seen as the word of God, it was more of a
guide as to how to be Christian. In an effort to hone their course, Saint
Athanasius, the Bishop of Alexandria, in his Easter letter of 367, listed the
books that were to be included in the New Testament. His main reason was to
exclude his favourite hate, an offshoot of the faith called Arianism, (named
after its founder Arius and not some discredited, laughable racial theory),
nevertheless, his suggestions stuck.

     So even here, not
500 years after Christ's martyrdom, we have discrepancies and arguments as to
what he truly did in life and more importantly, what should actually go into
his biography. So would it really be wrong of me to suggest that Christ was
hung from a tree and not on a cross? Would everyone be up in arms about it,
bearing in mind the slip shod way his life was recorded?

     Then we have the saga
of the translation.

     The King James
Bible is often toted as the original Bible (or word of God?) and all subsequent
English versions as cheap impostors. So how was this paragon of translating
purity actually reworked into the English language?

     In 1607 King James
1st commissioned a gaggle of translators to render the Bible into English. Two
years and nine months later, the work was ready for the printing press but
James was still not happy. Himself a minor scholar of limited ability, it was
clear that he did not have the talent, skill, time nor inclination to read and
prepare it for publication. So he gave the manuscript to the most celebrated
whiz kid of that time; enter Sir Francis Bacon.

     Bacon took a year
to pound the differing styles of the translators into some kind of uniformed
pattern, employing the rhythms, syntax and mannerisms that were so popular in
Shakespearian England at
the time.

     Mmmmm.... wait a
minute, so he changed it then? 

     Well, yes.

     Over fifty
translators had slaved over the wording for nigh on three years to perfect the
conversion of its ancient passages into the English language, and Bacon changes
it, using the "Dictionary of Slang" of that time to make it more,
"Popular"?

     Yes, but wait, it
gets better. 

     The Bible used by those
fine English scholars to translate into English, (before it was so horribly
molested by that pervert of the written word, Bacon), was in Greek. The Greek
copy was originally translated from the Aramaic ... which was translated from
the Hebrew; do you see where this is leading? See a pattern here?

     So basically, who
knows what the original word of God was?

      Nobody,
that's who.

     The original
scrolls that held the words that have conquered the world have long been lost
to the annals of time and nobody, this side mortality, will ever know what they
truly said.

     However, I
digress. The Tree.

     So where did the
Christian connection for the tree come from? Well, the Greek word for the
object used by the Romans to kill Jesus is Staurus, which Mr. Bacon changed to
cross. However, the actual translation is not Cross, it's Pole, or... (ta da!)
TREE!!

     Look, it's vague
but if Dan Brown can change places, people and facts for his books, then I'll
gladly use someone else's inaccuracies to help me, because that's how we role
in fiction-land :-)

     I have merely
dipped the tip of the toenail of my little toe into the subject and anyone who
knows the field of study will probably point out a rook of mistakes in
"Division, (not 14,800 though, I hasten to add).

    "Division of the
Damned" is a story, a work of fiction and I just wanted to highlight the
reasons and the facts (coughs) behind the legend of the book.

    Thanks for reading this
and I hope you enjoy the book, (if you buy it).

    Richard Rhys Jones

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Division of The Damned

By Richard Rhys Jones



It was a brilliant plan to win the war.



What if the Third Reich could own the night?



What if they had a Division of Vampires?



And if those Vampires didn't stop?



If they had plans to conquer the whole world?



Even Heinrich Himmler hadn't thought of that. But in Transylvania someone had. And on the Winter Solstice of 1944, the world would be at their mercy.

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Find the Author at:



www.divisionofthedamned.blogspot.com 



www.kingsofkindle.blogspot.com 

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