First, I am feeling a lot better than I did on friday, thank you everyone who commented and emailed me. I’m so very, very, very lucky to have you all in my life. I’m completely blown away. And you were all right, that there are a lot of people who go against the things I believe in, but there are a lot more people who believe in community. You’ve all clearly demonstrated that! Regardless of political affiliations, you really lifted my spirits. I’m back to filling the half-full cup and plowing forward to make my world a better place, superhero style!
On with the blog post! I’ve got a little bit for everyone: Ghosts, sci-fi Monsters, Steamy Island Love Affairs, and Historical Fantasy. Support bloggers! Check out these books:
I’m going to try to get Holly onto Tell Great Stories during October because her book Haunted Ground: Ghost Photos from the Gettysburg Battlefield, sounds just about awesome for this time of the year. I love ghost stories, especially those that revolve around a real location I can go to and touch if I wanted to and that’s steeped in history and lore. I’m a big fan of Holly’s (who has done some writing for us at Wicked & Tricksy) and I love how you can hear the reverence she has for the history of Gettysburg in her writing. It’s not a book about cheap thrills and ghostly images, there’s so much history and emotion in here too.
Check her out on Twitter and at her Blog.
Available for purchase at:
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And because writing one book isn’t cool enough, she had to go and outdo us all and write two 
Her second book, called Lost Cargo, is a sci-fi novel with a great cover and all the little sci-fi details I absolutely love, especially murderous monsters. And you’re really in luck because she posted earlier on her blog that she’s made Lost Cargo free on Smash Words for a while. Read for free and make sure you give her some love on GoodReads or Amazon. According to her blog, it will be available free on Amazon this fall.
Available for purchase at:
From her blog about the book:
Lost Cargo tells the story of an animal control ship that crashes in Washington, D.C.’s Rock Creek Park wilderness.
After a murderous creature escapes from the wreck, six-eyed animal control Tech 29 sets out to capture it – just as college students discover his ship and get trapped inside it.
The aliens cross paths with a student who struggles against the girl he loves over her brother’s rescue; an engaged couple who are keeping secrets from each other; and a bickering husband and wife who hike through Rock Creek Park at the wrong time. The story has chases through the city streets and Metro and a philosophical twist.
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Ok, so maybe ghosts and science fiction aren’t really your thing. Maybe you’re more excited about reading something steamy and sexy. Oh my god, who wouldn’t be? I had the absolute honor of reading a novella by Karen Stivali and Karen Booth (Bransforumer Shout Out!) before it got picked up for publication, and holy cold shower batman! Both Karens are very talented, so reading another story by Karen Stivali makes my day. And you know what? For all the things I love – classics, sci-fi, horror, contemporary YA, I ALSO love steamy writing that leaves me breathless and Karen’s writing totally delivers in the breathless category. You can find Karen at her blog and Twitter.
Available for Purchase at:
From Amazon:
When Shari discovers that her fiancé has been cheating on her, she lets the wedding go on according to plan, except while everyone else is at the church, Shari is heading to the airport to fly off on her honeymoon with her best friend, Jon. Jon is only too happy to help Shari escape what he knew would have been an awful marriage. Plus he’s thrilled by the prospect of time alone with her in a tropical paradise. He’s always loved her and desired her as a lot more than a friend. A steamy, romantic night on the beach turns into a whirlwind of desire as they take their friendship to multiple new levels of passion. But when Shari’s apologetic ex tries to win her back, she must choose between the life she thought she was going to have with him and the possibility of love with Jon.
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Finally, my friend and Wicked & Tricksy writer S.B. Stewart-Lang has a new fantasy book available online, co-authored with Michael J. Chernicoff. S.B. is a wonderful blogger and I’m looking forward to reading Forgotten Gods. You can read an excerpt of Forgotten Gods on S.B.’s site. I love reading S.B.’s posts on writing historical fiction. Like Holly, there’s a lot of reverence in S.B.’s language of collecting history. Even with its fantastical elements, I am encouraged by this respect for historical accuracy that Forgotten Gods will be true to its source material as well as absolutely magical. That’s the best sort of fantasy book, if you ask me. You can find S.B. online at: The Blog , Twitter, and Tuesdays on Wicked & Tricksy. Also, read an interview with S.B. here.
Available for Purchase at:
From Barnes & Noble:
Winter, 1745. Scotland is losing a war for independence. Robert Maxwell and his fellow soldiers beg for supernatural aid from the daione sìdhe, magical inhabitants of Scotland exiled in ancient times to a parallel plane of existence. The sìdhe ask to negotiate with the Scottish leaders, who rashly enter into a magical contract promising the sìdhe a permanent return to Britain in exchange for their help in the war.
Access to sìdhe soldiers and magical weapons gives the Scots a temporary advantage, but their agreement lacks stipulations to prevent lone sìdhe creatures from hunting humans, stealing children, or riddling the countryside with hidden portals that can whisk passers-by into parallel dimensions. Worse, the sìdhe leaders seem unable to stop the chaos.
The Scottish leadership work to understand the sidhe and find a way to coexist. But they find sìdhe are not as disorganized as they appear, and harbor a sinister goal: to end the war on their own terms and secure their claim on Britain, no matter what the cost to their human allies.
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Don’t forget to sign up for MonsterFest 2011! Spread the word! I’ve already gotten a lot of awesome sign-ups for monsters I’ve never heard of. This is going to be a great Halloween.
