T's Stuff

Saturday, February 17, 2018

The Prophet and the Witch by James W. George

Author: James W. George

Narrator: Angus Freathy

Length: 11 hours 18 minutes

Series: My Father's Kingdom, Book 2

Publisher: James W. George

Genre: Historical Fiction

Puritans. Quakers. Pirates. Mohawks. Witches. And a brutal war…

If you thought New England was dull in the 1670s, get ready for a history lesson.

In the critically acclaimed “My Father’s Kingdom,” debut author James W. George transported his readers to 1671 New England, and the world of Reverend Israel Brewster. It was a world of faith, virtue, and love, but it was also a world of treachery, hatred, and murder.

Four years later, Brewster is a disgraced outcast, residing in Providence and working as a humble cooper. Despite his best efforts, war could not be averted, and now, “King Philip’s War” has begun.

The rebellion is led by Metacomet, known as “King Philip” to the English colonists. He is the tormented son of the great Massasoit, and leader of the Wampanoag nation. Once the most reliable of Plymouth Colony’s allies, they are now the bitterest of enemies. Meanwhile, Metacomet’s mysterious counselor, Linto, despises this war and will do anything to end the bloodshed.

Meticulously researched, “The Prophet and the Witch” is a tale of hope and brotherhood in the face of evil and violence. It features the remarkable cast of fictional and historical characters from book one, including Josiah Winslow, Linto, Increase Mather, Constance Wilder, and Jeremiah Barron. Additionally, new characters such as America’s first ranger, Captain Benjamin Church, bring this chapter of history to life like never before.

James W. George is a lover of history and historical fiction. He is a graduate of Boston University and a military veteran. He is currently residing in Virginia with his wife and children.
He published his critically-acclaimed debut novel, My Father’s Kingdom, in January 2017. The novel, set in 1671 New England, depicted the prelude to King Philip’s War. The Indie View gave it five stars: “This is high historical drama handled wonderfully…a tale that will fully engage you on every level.”
My Father’s Kingdom" is a planned trilogy, and book two, The Prophet and the Witch, was published in September 2017. This is an epic novel that spans the entire conflict of King Philip’s War, and includes such notable historical figures as Josiah Winslow, Increase Mather, Metacomet, Benjamin Church, and Mary Rowlandson. The Literary Titan awarded it five stars and a gold medal for October 2017. “Expertly written and instantly engaging from the first few pages…I was captivated...one of the more intellectual of reads."

Goodreads⎮Amazon

Angus Freathy was born and educated in London – that’s the one in England, for you Ohio folks!

After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, he went to Switzerland to join Nestlé for a 2-year wandering assignment, which lasted 37 years and involved travel and work on every continent (except the cold ones at the top and bottom).

Periods of residence in the U.S., Hong Kong and Switzerland have resulted in a network of friends and acquaintances with an amazing range of world insight and a wide repertoire of mostly excellent jokes.

Since retirement, Angus and his (still working) wife, Debra have lived in Oregon, Maryland and are now in Dublin, Ohio, ‘the only place we have actually chosen to live since we have been married!’.

Following a crushing rejection by the BBC at the age of 19, Angus is re-activating a long-held ambition and launching a new career in voice-over, with the sole intention of having some fun and being in touch with some very talented people.

Website

Q&A with James W. George

Was a possible audiobook recording something you were conscious of while writing?
- Truthfully, when I was writing the first book, it was the furthest thing from my mind. Then I learned how remarkably easy and affordable it is to do via the ACX process, and I enthusiastically recommend it to every author. There is something magical about hearing your work put to voice.
How did you select your narrator?
- Angus did a masterful job with book one, “My Father’s Kingdom,” so he was the obvious choice for book two. There aren’t too many narrators in the world who can do Scottish accents, impeccable French, seventeenth-century marching ditties, Latin prayers, and heart-rending recitations of scripture all while pronouncing words and names like Wawetseka, Narragansett, Wootonekanuske and Menameset with nary a complaint.
How closely did you work with your narrator before and during the recording process? Did you give them any pronunciation tips or special insight into the characters?
- One of the best experiences about writing these two books has been the opportunity to work with Angus, joke around, and bounce ideas off of each other. I can’t imagine many other narrators who can so effortlessly interpret the prose with the proper inflections and accents. I reviewed each chapter upon completion, and I think I can almost count critiques and errors on one hand.A fun part of it all has been the recurring discussions about proper pronunciation: ‘Murican versus British. It really is quite astounding how many words we pronounce differently. One vivid example is “tourniquet,” which Angus pronounces with a soft “kay” at the end. I set out to correct him, and then realized his was a proper English pronunciation, and it was probably a more accurate rendition of the way they would have pronounced it in New England in the 1670s. Someday we Americans will learn to tawk right.
Were there any real life inspirations behind your writing?
- Since it’s historical fiction, there is certainly plenty of real-life inspiration. The faith, diligence, perseverance, and courage of the Puritan settlers of New England is remarkable. The bravery and inner torment of Metacomet as well as the entire Wampanoag nation is a tremendous tale that needs to be more closely examined. The bravery of soldiers and warriors, past and present, is always inspiring.
Is there a particular part of this story that you feel is more resonating in the audiobook performance than in the book format?
- Oh my goodness, I could go on and on on this topic. The most obvious answer is the psalmody in chapter four. Believe it or not, neither Angus or myself can sing like a teenage girl, so we obviously had guest help for that stretch. There are two other musical moments that come to life in the audiobook. Additionally, countless stretches of dialogue become, in my opinion, extraordinarily captivating when put to voice. The scripture at the end of Chapter 28. The villain’s screeching in Chapter 9. The Scotsman’s callousness and cruelty in the final chapter. The exchange with Mary Rowlandson. The French accents. I could go on and on.
If you had the power to time travel, would you use it? If yes, when and where would you go?
- In the midst of all these lazy snow days, my family has become a little too obsessed with “Futurama,” so I’m well aware time travel can have some unintended consequences (like the time they went back to the American Revolution and accidentally ruined it, so the United States was still part of England!) Provided Professor Farnsworth was there to undo any of my buffoonery, I’d be doing more time travel than Doctor Who. First and foremost, I’d hit New England in the 1670s and make sure I got everything right.
If this title were being made into a TV series or movie, who would you cast to play the primary roles?
- This is such a fun question and I’ve tackled it previously for book one. Book two has plenty of new characters as well.The more I watched Thor: Ragnarok, the more I’m convinced Tom Hiddleston would make an excellent Israel Brewster. The key to Brewster is enormous blue eyes, but I have no doubt Mr. Hiddleston could make it work. Matt Smith would also be an interesting candidate for Brewster. Perhaps Mr. Hiddleston could ask his associate, Chris Hemsworth, if he would like to play the burly giant, Thomas Reddington. I imagine Mr. Hemsworth probably doesn’t get offered too many acting roles these days, so he might leap at the chance.I’m sticking with John C. Reilly as Jeremiah Barron. The more I watch “Dewey Cox” the more I am amazed by his talent, and I have no doubt he would be perfect. Let’s cast Walton Goggins (Boyd Crowder from Justified) as Elijah MacTavish. If he has any difficulty with the Scottish accent, Angus can help him, and in exchange, he can teach Angus how to do an Appalachian accent. Sophie Turner from Game of Thrones has my vote for Constance Wilder. I’ll take Dominic West from The Wire to play the haughty Governor Josiah Winslow. We’ll need a good warrior for Benjamin Church...let’s give Travis Fimmel a call. He must be growing tired of Ragnar Lothbrok. Jessica Parker Kennedy from Black Sails can portray the Bluebird. Hmm...I think I have about fifty characters in the book...how much time do I have?
Have any of your characters ever appeared in your dreams?
- I’ve always said if I start dreaming about these characters then I’m going to cease and desist with the Puritans, and start writing books about scantily-clad supermodels, but truthfully, yes. I think they have occasionally popped into a dream or two.
What bits of advice would you give to aspiring authors?
- There are at least four million books for sale in the Kindle Store. If you really think the world needs another one, you had better be extremely passionate about it.
Do you have any tips for authors going through the process of turning their books into audiobooks?
- Hire a great narrator that genuinely wants to do the project.

Feb. 15th:

Dab of Darkness Audiobook Reviews

Feb. 16th:

Loves Great Reads

Feb. 17th:

T's Stuff

Feb. 18th:

Jazzy Book Reviews

Feb. 19th:

Book Lovers Life

Feb. 20th:

The Maiden's Court

Feb. 21st:

The Book Addict's Reviews
Booktalk with Eileen

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A Life Of Shadows by Kristen Banet blitz

A Life Of Shadows
Kristen Banet
(The Redemption Saga, #1)
Publication date: February 15th 2018
Genres: Adult, Supernatural, Thriller, Urban Fantasy

Sawyer Matthews knows how to put one foot in front of the other, to keep moving while the nightmares haunt her, and her own failures taunt her. She’s become a master at doing awful things with good intentions, terrible things for the sake of those who need her. She’s long given up on being the hero, trying to find peace in no longer being the villain.
When her past comes back and she finds herself caught by the International Magi Police Organization, she’ll have to revisit her own personal hells and finally confront the very monster that made her what she is. The very monster that has already killed her once before.
Will the “dead” Magi assassin Shadow finally come out of the dark to begin a fight for a redemption she doesn’t believe she deserves? Or will her nightmares drag her back into the shadows that have defined her life?
*This is an Urban Fantasy reverse harem series of full length novels where the leading lady doesn’t have to choose from her romantic interests. This series will have M/M content.

These books are rated for mature audiences, 18+ due to violence, language, and sexual themes.

This series deals with several triggering topics including, but not limited to, suicide, child abuse, rape, and PTSD.*

Goodreads / Amazon

—

Author Bio:
Kristen Banet has a Diet Coke problem and smokes too much. She curses like a sailor (though, she used to be one, so she uses that as an excuse) and finds that many people don’t know how to handle that. She loves to read, and before finally sitting to try her hand at writing, she had your normal kind of work history. From tattoo parlors, to the U.S. Navy, and freelance illustration, she’s stumbled through her adult years and somehow, is still kicking.

She loves to read books that make people cry. She likes to write books that make people cry (and she wants to hear about it). She’s a firm believer that nothing and no one in this world is perfect, and she enjoys exploring those imperfections—trying to make the characters seem real on the page and not just in her head.

She might just be crazy, though. Her characters think so, but this can’t be confirmed.
Check out her social media to catch what's going on in the worlds inside her head. She drops teasers, new covers, and opens ARC reader slots through her Facebook group, The Banet Pride.
Facebook Page / Facebook Group / Goodreads

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Just Say (Hell) No by Rosalind James blitz

Just Say (Hell) No
Rosalind James
(Escape to New Zealand #11)
Publication date: February 14th 2018
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Even a hard man needs a soft side.
Marko Sendoa isn’t a beach man. He’s not an Auckland man. He’s a hard man. Born Basque, raised in the heart of New Zealand’s Southern Alps, and bred on hard work, discipline, and getting the job done. It’s not easy for a rugby flanker to make it to age 32 at the top of his game, but he’s done it. Next year is the Rugby World Cup, and he’ll do whatever it takes to be on the field in the black jersey when the anthems are sung.
He doesn’t need a kitten.

He doesn’t need a pregnant cousin.

He definitely doesn’t need a too-short, distractingly curvy, totally unimpressed Maori barista and part-time pet portraitist who fills his house and his life with too much color, too much chaos, and too many secrets.
He’s getting them anyway.

Goodreads / Amazon

—

EXCERPT:

Ahead of him, the girl looked tense. The running was new, probably. Felt too hard. That had to be it, considering the speed she was going. He caught up and said, “Excuse me.”
She whirled on him so fast, he started running backward out of habit.
“I have Mace!” she announced, all but baring her teeth.
Oh. She’d heard him coming up behind her. He blinked, realized he was still jogging backward, stopped, and said, “Uh . . . no, you don’t. But no worries. You don’t need it.” There wasn’t room to conceal more than a car key in that kit she was wearing. A flippy little zebra-print skirt,and a black sports bra that dipped low enough in front to show some cleavage. She was a curvy little thing and no mistake. Not that he was looking. She was advancing on him like the stroppiest terrier in the litter, and despite her aggression, he could see the fear underneath.
First the pub, and now this. He didn’t scare women. He was careful. He put up both palms and said again, “No worries.”
She seemed taken aback for an instant, but recovered fast. “I’m not worried,” she said. “But maybe you should be, eh.”
A hint of a Maori accent there. He considered explaining that he liked blondes, but she opened her hand, and bloody hell, but she did have a tiny metal canister laced between her fingers, together with her keys. An older couple was coming toward them with a Golden Retriever on a leash, and Marko had a sudden flash of his photo in another newspaper. Staggering around, tears streaming from his eyes, Maced on a bush track after attacking a jogger. That would be a good look.
Brilliant.

Author Bio:
Rosalind James writes contemporary romance and romantic suspense published both by Montlake Romance and independently. Her stories are set in New Zealand, Idaho, California, New York . . . really, anyplace that seems cool. (Research trips, especially those involving lots of rugby, are a bonus.) Her books are available in ebook, paperback, and audio formats. Rosalind is a former marketing executive who spent several years in Australia and New Zealand, where she fell in love with the people, the landscape, and the culture of both countries. She attributes her rapid success to the fact that "Lots of people would like to escape to New Zealand! I know I did!"

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

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Friday, February 16, 2018

BOOK TOUR: The Company Files: 1. The Good Man by Gabriel Valjan

Book Details:

Book Title: The Company Files: 1. The Good Man by Gabriel Valjan

Category: Adult Fiction, 251 pages

Genre: Thriller, Historical Fiction, Crime Fiction, Espionage

Publisher: Winter Goose Publishing

Release date: December 2017

Tour dates: Feb 12 to March 2, 2018

Content Rating: PG + M (No bad language but there is an attempted rape scene, and some violence.)

Book Description:

In 1948, Vienna was divided among four powers: France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Jack Marshall had served with Walker during the war, and now, working together for The Company, they are tasked to do the inconceivable. Could former Nazis really be recruited to assist the U.S. in the atomic race? As their team moves forward, they quickly discover they are not the only ones looking for these men. And the others in the search may just have the objective of murder.

In this tale of historical noir, of corruption and deceit, no one is who they say they are. Who is The Good Man in a world where an enemy may be a friend, an ally may be the enemy, and governments deny everything?

To read reviews, please visit Gabriel Valjan's Page on iRead Book Tours.

Buy the Book:

Amazon

Add to Goodreads

Meet the Author:

Gabriel Valjan is the author of The Roma Series from Winter Goose Publishing. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts, where he enjoys the local restaurants, and his two cats, Squeak and Squawk, keep him honest to the story on the screen.

Connect with the Author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Pinterest

Guest Post by Gabriel Valjan

Writing Beginnings and Endings

Writers make the mistake of thinking of their writing as performance art. They dazzle their readers with a stupendous sentence and awesome imagery, a lilting cadence and twenty-dollar words. In the search for the Wow Factor, they violate the pact they have made with their reader, and that is to tell a story. Established writers violate this pact, this implicit trust with their fans at their peril.

Writers are entertainers, no different than stand-up comedians and actors. The difference is in the material, but the common ground is delivery. A Beginning should engage; have an element of mystery in the first sentence regardless of the story. A Beginning should contain the 5Ws: Who, What, When, Where, and Why. Endings often answer the Who and Why. In the race between first and last page, there is misdirection and twists and turns in what happens.

In reading mysteries, we strive to learn who murdered whom, and why. In historical fiction, we often know the outcomes but read to discover some greater insight or motivation behind the great person. A teacher had criticized Hitler for mediocre artwork. Better yet, a Jewish critic had humiliated him in a review of a student’s gallery exhibit. The world is forever changed.

Writer Unboxed runs a monthly feature called Flog the Pro. The premise is simple: the first few paragraphs of a bestseller are posted, the author’s name is masked, and the question is posed, “Would you read more?” The verdicts vary with each reader’s taste.

So many writers seem to be thinking of Fifth Avenue and Mad Men when they write their first sentence or paragraph. The jingle, the “Hook.” They are not too far off the mark. Writing is a form of warfare. Authors use words to entice, to enchant; to earn and keep those readers. The fight for eyeballs is real, the competition is fierce, but a firecracker of a first sentence fizzles out if the rest of the writing can’t sustain the momentum. The pace is impossible to maintain.

All writing is predicated on Persuasion – so the writer should think of the story as seduction, the creation of a dream, to paraphrase John Gardner. Ease the reader into the dream of the story, where the eyes will move from word to word and the ears will hear the music, instead of using a bat. The writer’s talent is knowing which strategy to use, or to switch metaphor – the key in which the story should be told. Technique varies with each writer and that is why writers develop fans. They deliver on expectation. Knowing the strategy, the pitch and scale for the story comes, I believe, with a writer’s lifelong habit of reading and understanding genre. Tension and turning the page are the result of a reader’s anticipation of what the writer will do, or not do next.

Endings are harder than Beginnings. The story must resolve on an authentic and logical note after all the suspense and tension. The Ending must be satisfactory, consonant with the world the writer created.

My advice to authors is to write in medias res. Start in the middle. Get the story down on paper. Revise and work with an editor, trust your instincts, and work from Beginning to Ending until you disappear and only the story remains. Readers are there for the music and not the conductor.

Enter the Giveaway!

Ends March 10, 2018

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A Hundred Billion Ghosts by DM Sinclair

A
Hundred Billion Ghosts

by
DM Sinclair

Genre:
Humorous Paranormal Mystery

319
pages

What
if one day, ghosts suddenly weren't invisible anymore? The paranormal
becomes normal in this fast and funny, wild and twisty ride through a
world teeming with the ghosts of every dead person ever.

Ryan
is a planner. Always two steps ahead, living in tomorrow. But
sometimes, things just happen. Like the ghosts of every human who
ever died suddenly materializing and making the whole world haunted.
That was a bit of a surprise.

Ryan's
new plan: to get a fresh start on life by joining the dead. One
sketchy experimental procedure later, he has left his body behind and
become a ghost. And that's when things start to go wrong.

Realizing
he made a terrible mistake, Ryan wants to be alive again. But his
body has mysteriously vanished. And whoever took it will do anything
to make sure he never finds it. Now Ryan has just ten days to race
across the ghost-infested world and get back into his body, or be
obliterated forever. Also, he missed breakfast.

A
wild ride perfect for fans of Christopher Moore and Neil Gaiman, A
Hundred Billion Ghosts is a "hilarious and compelling"
paranormal mystery thriller with "just the right balance of
humor, poignancy, and twists".

Goodreads
* Amazon

Excerpt 2

Every city in the world was thick with ghosts since the Blackout, but the older a city was, the worse they had it. On Saturday afternoons, Boston’s streets were typically bustling with a million or so living people out doing their weekend things. But their numbers were dwarfed by the billion or more ghosts crammed onto every sidewalk and meandering the streets as far as their hauntings would allow them. There was barely a square inch of space in the city not occupied by numerous roaming ghosts. If they weren’t immaterial it would have been impossible for the still-living to move.
But Ryan was out early, and it was sunny. The living were still asleep, and the ghosts were hard to see. On cloudy days they were practically solid, like the city was submerged in a thick fog with faces. But on a bright day like this their shimmering outlines had no detail, like he was walking through a sea of human-sized soap bubbles. He much preferred these days. It gave the illusion that the street was emptier than it really was. And seeing the details on unfamiliar ghosts was frequently disturbing. Many times he had made accidental eye contact with someone only to realize a second too late that they must have been flattened by a dump truck or fallen off of something high. A semi-translucent gaping head wound is still a gaping head wound. And flat is never a good look, alive or dead.

If
you've ever turned on a TV and are not picky, you've probably seen
something written by DM Sinclair. He's done more than a hundred hours
of that stuff, and will happily take the blame even for shows he
didn't write.

Later
he thought it might be nice to write books for a change. It isn't,
though.

Nevertheless,
he intends to keep writing as long as he is alive. After that he
plans to visit Australia.

Like
many Canadians, he lives in Canada.

Website
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the tour HERE
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The Kingdom Berkeley Blackfriars Book 1 by J. R. Mabry

The
Kingdom

Berkeley
Blackfriars Book 1

by
J. R. Mabry

Genre:
Urban Fantasy

An
unhinged tycoon.

A
lodge of evil magicians.

A
plan to steal every child from the face of the earth…

When
Kat Webber discovers her brother’s comatose body in the midst of a
demonic ritual, she knew she was in over her head…

Fr.
Richard Kinney is having a crappy week. He’s not at all sure he’s
the best leader for the demon-hunting Berkeley Blackfriars, and his
boyfriend has just broken up with him. But when a violent demon
possesses one of the richest men in the world, Richard doesn’t have
time for self-pity.

Kat
and the Blackfriars discover their situations are entertwined—leading
them to a lodge of black magicians who make every avocado in the
world disappear. Their dark power growing, they eliminate every dog
from existence.

Kat
and the Blackfriars find themselves in a desperate race against time
as the magicians try to eliminate their next target—every child on
earth. To save the world’s next generation, Kat and the Berkeley
Blackfriars will have to put themselves in the line of fire instead…

The
Kingdom is
the first book in the Berkeley Blackfriars series. If you love
supernatural suspense laced with humor and danger, you’ll love J.R.
Mabry’s Berkeley Blackfriars’ books. Fans of Buffy
the Vampire Slayer, Preacher, The Dresden Files,
and the Mercy Thompson series will thrill to this new paranormal
fantasy adventure.

**Only
.99 cents!**

Goodreads
* Amazon

An Excerpt from
THE KINGDOM
by J.R. Mabry

When the demon appeared, Randall Webber nearly jumped out of his skin. He was an experienced magickian, but the appearance of an infernal dignitary is never a commonplace event, and it shook him every time. He knew that if he stepped even momentarily outside the circle he had painstakingly burned onto his hardwood floor the demon would be at his throat, and in an instant would separate his soul from his body and devour it—or worse.
Webber mustered his courage and put on his best poker face. He was in control here, he told himself. He was the magickian. He called the shots. He commanded the hosts of Hell. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and upper lip and then put his hand in his back pocket to stop it from shaking.
The demon did not speak but appeared in the form of a dragon. It hovered as an image cast upon a small paper triangle about the size of Webber’s fist, set safely outside the circle on an end table. The dragon uncoiled its tail in slow motion, gold-flecked pupils staring straight into Webber’s own. Webber gulped and willed his voice not to waver as he spoke.
“Greetings, noble Articiphus, commander of many mighty hosts, Duke of Hell. I acknowledge thee and bid thee welcome. I command thee by the holy Tetragrammaton to assume thy human form and speak with me!”
So far, so good, Webber thought. He was still in one piece; the demon was still constrained within the folded paper triangle, and he thought he had just given a flawless performance of a man in command of himself. He fought the urge to run through his mental checklist to make sure he had not forgotten anything. One missing link and the whole house of cards would come tumbling down and he would be demon chow. He fought the urge. He had been careful, and if he had missed anything it was too late now to do anything about it. Right now, he needed to focus.
The triangle shimmered, and a regal-looking gentleman hovered in it dressed in ermine and satin. One half of his face was serene, the other horribly scarred. A diadem sat upon his head, and his face bore a resentful scowl. Nobody likes to be told what to do, Randall thought, least of all a man of power—or a being of power. “Hail, Articiphus, Duke of—”
The demon interrupted him impatiently. “Cut the shit, Magickian. What do you want?”
Randall’s eyes widened. He pushed a lock of long brown hair out of his eyes and consciously straightened his perpetually stooped shoulders. He was expecting the typical exchange of ritual pleasantries, a ping-pong volley of testy manners conducted in Elizabethan English, but he had never summoned this particular spirit before. This one, apparently, had no time—or patience—for small talk. Very well, Randall thought, let’s just cut to the chase. “Is it true, noble Duke, that you have the power to remove souls and put them in other bodies?”
Whether the demon’s voice was audible or whether it merely resonated in his mind, Randall couldn’t tell. It had an odd quality about it as if Randall were wearing headphones. There was no resonance in the room, so it was hard to tell. He dismissed the thought as irrelevant and willed himself once more to focus. The words were clear, regardless of their source. The big question had just been asked. And for a demon in a hurry to be rid of this pest of a human, Articiphus was certainly taking his time replying.
The demon’s eyes narrowed, and he looked like he was trying to stare past the magickian. Randall stole a glance behind him, but there was nothing. Out the window he could see drizzle swirling around a streetlamp, forming wispy ghosts that, he prayed, were neither conscious nor malevolent. In this business, however, one could never be sure.
Randall shifted nervously, noting that the meat of his thigh seemed to have gone numb. He slapped it with the flat of his hand. “What say you, noble Duke?” he called, with a note of impatience.
“I. Can.” The demon let the two words drop like ice. He squinted at the magickian. “You want to share a body with another soul.” He spoke it as a statement, but a raised eyebrow indicated that it was more of a question of clarification.
“No. I want to trade bodies.”
Randall saw the demon nodding, understanding. “Man or woman?” he asked.
“Neither one,” Randall said. He forced all the air he could into his lungs, expanding them as far as they would go given the acrid sting of the incense that hung as thick in the air of the apartment as the fog outside. “The being I want to swap bodies with is…not human.”
The demon opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again, furrowing his brows instead.
“Oh yeah,” Randall added. “When I go, I need to take this with me.” And he held forth a purplish-green fruit.
“What are you going to do with an avocado?” asked the demon, now truly curious.
Suddenly, Webber was not nervous at all. He knew what he had to do, and he knew he had the means at hand to do it. He didn’t answer the demon but only smiled.

J.R.
Mabry roams the earth like the ghost of Jacob Marley, searching for
the perfect omelet pan. He writes thoughtful urban fantasy and
science fiction. When not haunting high-end cooking stores, he lives
with his wife and three dogs in Oakland, CA. He is allergic to
coffee, tea, and alcohol, and for this reason the hills resound with
his lamentation. He is also generally a cheery guy.

Check out
the relaunch of The Kingdom, out now from Apocryphile Press. The
relaunched The Power will be out next month, followed by the all-new
The Glory—also known as the Berkeley Blackfriars series. The
Berkeley Blackfriars aren’t your ordinary priests—they curse like
longshoremen and aren’t above the occasional spliff or
one-night-stand. But if you’ve got a nasty demon on your ass,
they’re exactly the guys you want in your corner.

For
a free short story in the Berkeley Blackfriars universe, download The
Demon Bunny of Ipswich. For more on The Kingdom and the Berkeley
Blackfriars, visit J.R. Mabry’s website at www.jrmabry.com.

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the tour HERE
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First Contact by Kat Green

Author: Kat Green

Narrator: Kate Tyler

Length: 5 hours 24 minutes

Series: Haunts for Sale, Book 1

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Released: Nov. 9, 2017

Genre: Horror

Sloane Osborne is a paranormal real estate agent in the business of selling haunted houses, but, in truth, she’s only searching for one ghost. And her time is running out.

It’s the 366th day after her fiancé’s death. Michael used to like putting things off for “a year and a day” - so tonight’s the night. Sloane will do anything to make contact with him before the clock strikes midnight. When she gets a call to check out a home in Waukesha, Wisconsin, it’s the last place she thinks Michael would contact her.

Sloane is dead wrong.

Kat Green is really the alias of authors KAT de Falla and Rachel GREEN.
Rachel Green has always believed in ghosts but saw her first full body apparition while working at an old movie theater in college. When she met Kat de Falla at a writer’s workshop, she knew she’d met a kindred spirit – one who was also sensitive to the hereafter. And after bonding on a few ghost adventures, Kat Green was born.
Kat lived in a haunted house for too long. When things really heated up, she had several paranormal teams investigate, but things only got worse. When her mother suggested they contact a shaman, she agreed to come, saying she had been waiting for Kat’s call. The home was cleansed and sold. When she paired up with Rachel Green, the idea of co-writing a book with a paranormal real estate agent seemed perfect.
With their combined paranormal “experiences”, they decided to combine their creative mojo. That’s when Sloane Osborne, Paranormal Real Estate agent, and the HAUNTS FOR SALE series was born.

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Kate Tyler is an audiobook narrator and producer with several published audiobooks available on Audible, iTunes and Amazon. A background in drama and a successful career in voiceover, Kate lives with her family in San Diego and enjoys swimming, running, cycling and stand up paddleboard.

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Do you believe certain types of writing translate better into audiobook format?
- I think it really depends on your narrator. If you have a strong narrator, which we were lucky enough to find in Kate Tyler, then the audiobook takes on a personality of its own and the magic of the author’s words come to life.
Was a possible audiobook recording something you were conscious of while writing?
- It was a dream and we are so happy with the reality. As an author, you live inside your mind with these characters in these worlds. The audiobook brought a new dimension to how we were able to have readers experience the book.
How did you select your narrator?
- She submitted her work to our publisher and we chose to work with her after auditioning other narrators. We both fell in love with Kate’s voice the minute we heard her reading.
Were there any real life inspirations behind your writing?
- Both of us are “sensitive.” Kat lived in a haunted house for years and Rachel saw her first full body manifestation in college while working in an old theatre/movie theatre in her hometown in Illinois. Because of these things, it’s easy for us to dream up our own ghost stories.
How do you manage to avoid burn-out? What do you do to maintain your enthusiasm for writing?
- We have each other as well as Kat’s husband, Lee. Whenever we’re struggling, we bounce ideas off each other and then ask Lee if it’s possible. (And sometimes we do it even if he says it isn’t.)
If you had the power to time travel, would you use it? If yes, when and where would you go?
- Rachel - Um...YES! My first stop would be a plantation in South Carolina pre-Civil War. Then I’d head to Egypt during the time of the pharaohs. I’d also want to visit all of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World to see how they really looked. Then I’d have to meet some famous people like Abraham Lincoln, Walt Whitman, John Donne, and Walt Disney.
- Kat - Heck yes! I would go back and meet my husband waaaaay earlier. I broke my thumb on State Street when I was 18 and I asked him, a complete stranger, if it looked broken. If I knew what I knew now, I never would have let him go after that moment.
If this title were being made into a TV series or movie, who would you cast to play the primary roles?
- Funny you should ask. With two of us writing, we picked people to play our characters right away so we could both have a clear picture of them in our heads. Sloane would be played by Zooey Deschanel, Michael is Ryan Gosling, and Jonah is Ryan Reynolds.
What do you say to those who view listening to audiobooks as “cheating” or as inferior to “real reading”?
- Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Any way you are taking in a book is still stimulating your brain. Whether you’re listening or reading as you’re relaxing in the tub, working out on the treadmill, or sitting in your favorite chair, you’re diving into the story and that’s what matters. There are so many people I know who have “read” more because of audiobooks then they ever would have otherwise. One person cuts lawns in the summer and listens to books when he works. What better way to spend your time? It isn’t cheating, it’s a different way of using your brain.
How did you celebrate after finishing this novel?
- Rachel - This was my first published novel so my husband took me out to dinner to celebrate. Then I started working on book 2.
- Kat - opening a bottle of wine! The best way to celebrate :)
What bits of advice would you give to aspiring authors?
- Major in Marketing. You’re going to be able to write, but marketing the book takes a lot more effort.
What’s next for you?
- We are currently working on Book 3 of the Haunts for Sale Series, which ventures out west, to Sin City.

First Contact is the 1st book in the Haunts For Sale series by Kat Green, In the book Sloan Osbourne is a paranormal investigator and a real estate agent who specializes in selling haunted houses. Sloan has never actually seen a ghost but has all of the equipment she needs to be able to tell if a house is haunted or not. Sloan has a client who is looking to purchase a house but wants to know if it is haunted or not, and if it is Safe for people to live there. Sloan is more then ready to investigate this house. It is also the anniversary of the death of her fiance.

Sloan's fiance Michael was killed in a car accident as they were headed to get their marriage license 1 year ago. He always used to use a year and a day as a time reference for things, like when giving something time like a new job give it a year and a day, if you don't like it quit, and so on.

Sloan feels like if she does not make contact with Michael on the year and a day anniversary she will never be able to, and what better place to try then a haunted house. That is all I am going to tell you about the story, I don't want to ruin it.

I was very impressed with this book. It grabbed a hold to me right away, and left me sad knowing I have to wait for the next book. This truly was a great book. I loved how it stayed interesting and to the point with out boring me with unneeded details. For the most part if there was a detail about something you needed it either to keep track of the point being made or you would need it in another later part of the book.

The characters in the book were awesome and life like. They had feelings and emotions that jumped off the page and made you feel sad or happy or whatever for them.

The story kept moving, it did not stall out. It was almost a roller caster at times. I personally really like that. I do not enjoy books that get stagnant. This book never did.

The audiobook is narrated by Kate Taylor. She really made this book come to life. I actually read the book a couple of years ago, but I have to say the audiobook makes this book even more creepy. I loved the ghost voices. Kate had my spine tingling.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Kat Green. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.