What A Great Day!

I love that I can say "it's a great day!" even though the air conditioner went out in my vehicle as we're nearing 90 humid degrees in Oklahoma and I've got way more on my to do list than I could possibly get done. But, you know what? I can say it and I am! I'm working on a new story and it's coming together nicely. Yes, I know I'm supposed to be finishing the edits on A Marriage of Necessity but, for some reason, I keep pushing that one back. It's a super special story and maybe, just maybe, it's not its time yet! Not sure, but I'll keep you posted.

Anyway, the new story is currently called The Forget Me Not Spot and I'm pretty excited about it. It popped into my head one day when I was emailing back and forth with my friend, award-winning author Andrew E. Kaufman (do you love how I ALWAYS get that award-winning and that we're friends in there? I'm hopeful his success will somehow rub off!). We were discussing plants he could use to landscape the yard of his new home (complete with acreage, horses, and a pool in sunny southern California, no less), when the idea just blossomed (sorry!). I ran it by a couple of other friends and then began to let it bloom (go ahead, roll your eyes). There will be a blog attached to this one that is specifically related to the book: http://forgetmenotgardenspot.blogspot.com/ This would be a great time to start following! I just revealed my images of the main characters, Gabriel Saunders (yummy) and Felicity Anderson (sweet) on my FaceBook page and will probably share them on the blog very, very soon.

So, circling back to Andrew E. Kaufman ... you didn't know we were going to do that, did you?! Well, we are so that I can tell you I've got a copy of his bestselling While The Savage Sleeps and we're giving it away on the TreasureLineBooks Blog. Yes!!! Giveaways of Drew's books are rather rare so you'd do well to take advantage of the moment :) It's a great book, if I might say so myself. Though you might want to consider reading it while your sweetheart is nearby. The only catch ... the giveaway is TODAY ONLY so you need to get over there and comment.

What? Okay, okay. I'll be quiet so you can go. TreasureLineBooks.blogspot.com. Go. Go already!!!

Can I honestly say “I liked Draculas” and mean it?

DRACULAS~A Novel of Terror--As if the powerhouse list of authors (Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn, Jeff Strand, F. Paul Wilson) and the title weren't enough--the disclaimer at the beginning will certainly grab your attention:

"If you’re easily disturbed, have a weak stomach, or are prone to nightmares, stop reading right now. There are no sexy teen heartthrobs herein."

Well, I am all those things, and I happen to like sexy heartthrobs…though not particularly teen heartthrobs. So, I put on my best brave girl face, swallowed hard, and hit the page down button anyway. Wow! What a ride!!! This book delivered all that it had promised. Yet, even with that, can I truly say I liked it? I mean, it’s phenomenal but “like” indicates to me a story I’d want to put myself in. I DO NOT want to be in this story in the least! The writing is fantastic, of course, and the story flows – it is, in my opinion, a truly unique take on the legend. You’ll come away with a different view. The characters are well developed and I felt as if I was part of the action – right there as it was happening. All good and leading me to dish out a 5 star rating…but “like”???

The book was written as a full-length, 80,000-word novel by 4 extremely gifted authors, and they put it together seamlessly--so much that the reader can’t tell which author did what. The premise is that an ancient skull, believed to belong to Dracula, was found in Transylvania and purchased by a wealthy, dying businessman in (of all places) Durango, CO. The rich man gets the skull which his “all that” beautiful assistant is skeptical about until he mysteriously sinks the razor sharp teeth of the skull into his neck.

Then things start happening.

I can’t tell you more because, well, author/friend Andrew E. Kaufman would frown on me and accuse me of giving away spoilers! He’s pretty good at creepy characters and they might come after me if I’m not careful.

I can tell you, however, that I would highly recommend Draculas~a novel of terror written by Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn, Jeff Strand, and F.Paul Wilson. It is available for pre-order at Amazon.com until Tuesday, October 19. I’d go ahead and click the pre-order button if I was you…but don’t blame me if you can’t sleep, you see movement in the shadows, or your stomach remains a bit queasy. Take that up with the authors on the Draculas website. And, while you’re there…you can learn a bit more about the book. There’s also an interesting bonus that comes along with this ebook. You can find out about that on the Draculas site too. Go ahead…be brave…and make sure you come back and let me know if you can honestly say you “like” it! I mean, REALLY!!! Isn’t "like" usually associated with a positive emotion? Something...happy? This…this was sheer gore and horror created by the best with the sole purpose of writing the most frightening book they possibly could. Mission accomplished.

Interactive Book Release Party

There's an interesting party going on...it's a virtual party over at Bitten by Books for author Andrew E. Kaufman's While The Savage Sleeps. There are some great interview questions and an opportunity for you to answer a couple of questions presented by the author as well as ask him more. The interaction is great! While you're there, read up on how to win a $50 Amazon Electronic Gift Card at the event as well as checking out some of the other events going on. Bitten by Books seems to know how to put on quite a show!

My favorite question asked (okay, my actual favorite was the one about the dog food...where'd that come from?!!!) ~ BBB asked: How long do we have to wait for your next book, and what is it going to be about?

AK: Depends which one you mean–I have three going right now.

The stand-alone is as of yet untitled, and I hope to release it hopefully sometime next year. That one is a bit of a departure from the last. More a psychological thriller and not anywhere near as gory or violent. It’s more of a mind trip, and if I do things correctly, will throw the reader completely off-balance and force them to question their own perceptions. My intended effect is for them to say: “Holy crap! what the hell just happened to me?” (Or something like that).

The second part of the Savage Series will hopefully follow after that. That one is already in production and it will delve into Kyle’s very dark past and then jump into the present, where it begins to haunt her once again. Literally. That’s all I’m going to say about it. Can’t give too much away!

But honestly, I’m not in a hurry on either of those. It takes me a long time to write a novel because I refuse to release it until I feel it’s ready. The readers deserve that. Plus, While The Savage Sleeps just came out in June, so it’s still rather young, and I’d like to give it the chance to shine on its own because it’s rather special to me.

Jump over to Bitten by Books and join the party. It will be going on all day....

What's all the fuss over Andrew E. Kaufman?

Monday, September 20, author friend Andrew E. Kaufman will be partying over at AuthorIsland.com... It's a Cyber Launch Party to kick off the release of his book in print copy. For those of you who don't know (not like I haven't been singing his praises loud and clear all over the place!), Andrew is the author of "While The Savage Sleeps", a Suspense Thriller Kindle Bestseller. In a direct quote from critically acclaimed author of over fifty novels, Robert W. Walker said the following about him:

"Andrew Kaufman goes the extra mile when it comes to authenticity, and just when you think you have seen it all in crime fiction, a guy like this comes along and knocks your socks off."

Not bad for a new kid on the block. Then again, this guy's book has garnered 5 star ratings all around like the one posted by Bitten By Books. And the best part...Andrew has managed to keep his feet on the ground even with his name and his book throwing my google alerts into overtime! With requests for guest posting such as the Funny Thing Happened On The Way To My Autopsy post (Warning...it's not funny but it is fascinating) and readers writing post like this one by Christine R. Senter that truly left Andrew speechless, it's no wonder the book is on a lot of must read lists!

I hope you'll join Andrew at his cyber launch party. He'll be there chatting online all day and there will be prizes, from what I understand -- we all love the prizes!!! If you're like most people, you'll enjoy Andrew too. Take advantage of this opportunity to get to know him and to find out more about his book. You'll be glad you did.