Guest Author Interview: Lori Devoti

Please welcome today's guest author Lori Devoti!  Lori is the author of the Unbound series (Unbound, Guardian's Keep, Wild Hunt, Dark Crusade, The Hellhound King), Amazon series (Amazon Ink, Amazon Queen), Captured, Lured, When Gargoyles Fly, Zombie Moon, Lost: A Vampire Romance, and Demon High.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Lori:  I am not one of those authors who can say I started writing when my fingers were strong enough to hold a pencil and haven't put it down since. I did do some writing, mainly poetry, in high school and took a few very short/half-hearted attempts at novels in my twenties. But I didn't really start writing until I gave up my job and stayed home with my daughter. Then writing became my outlet.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Lori:   I love fantasy. It is probably my main love for reading. Adding paranormal elements to my fiction just made sense.

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Lori:  They say if you choose invisibility you are sneaky, but I do have to say it would come in darn handy sometimes. I'd also like to be able to shift into a cat, but a nice well-fed cat who people let into their houses on cold nights.

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Lori:   Demon High is a young adult urban fantasy novel. It is on the dark side with a serial killer escaped from hell and a succubus. I don't like to water things down, so while it is a long way from horror in my opinion, the things I think would have happened in the story are in the story. But despite the demons and serial killer it is, like all of my fiction, about the characters. I love my characters and for me they are what books are all about. You need plot, but it is just the road the characters travel. (Oh and right now, I have Demon High on sale for only $.99. Hopefully, readers like that!)

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

Lori:   This is terrible, but I have no idea. It isn't how I think. I would love, however, if someone who has read the book would tell me!

Demon High by Lori Devoti.

Lucinda Dent never planned to call demons. She wasn't stupid, after all. She'd seen what the addiction had done to her mother. But her mother has been gone for ten years, sucked into hell by a demon, and all Lucinda has left is her grandmother and the house she grew up in. Who could blame her for using the only thing her mother gave her, a talent for demon calling, to save them? Lucinda teams up with an old friend and together they set up business, calling demons. But soon things go terribly wrong. Demons are loose in Caldera High, and not only is Lucinda responsible, she just might be in love with one of them. Can love conquer all or is Lucinda about to lose everything--her home, her new love, and her soul?Author Note: This is dark urban fantasy which contains curse words and sexual situations. It is not squeaky clean.


Thank you Lori for joining us here today at From the Shadows!

To learn more about Lori Devoti and her books, please visit her website.

Guest Author Interview: Rebecca Zanetti + Giveaway

Please welcome today's guest author Rebecca Zanetti!  Rebecca is the author of Fated.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Rebecca:  Well…to be honest, we were snowed in December 2008-January 2009, and I sat down and finally started to write that book I’d been thinking about forever. I knew it was something I eventually wanted to do, but there have been lot of things in my life I wanted to pursue, and I did. Now that the floodgates are open, I can’t stop. I’ll always keep writing now.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Rebecca:  You know, I am fascinated by the old battle between good and evil, and that theme shows up in my writing. The paranormal genre really lends itself to that theme, so I think that was the attraction for me. And I like the “how” of life. So if a vampire can teleport from one place to another, I like figuring out how that could actually happen. (String theory…which studies dimensions).

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Rebecca:   It’d be cool to be immortal, so long as my friends and family were immortal too. Otherwise, I’d like to be able to teleport…just show up at the Nordstrom’s in Seattle for a day without having to get on an airplane first.

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Rebecca:  FATED is sexy and action packed. The hero is the ultimate-alpha…who discovers his sweet side in a rather clumsy way when he falls in love with the rational, scientific heroine who SO doesn’t believe in fate. Of course, they’re fighting the bad guys who have developed a virus that attacks vampire mates…

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

Rebecca:  I think Jason Momoa makes an awesome hero. He played the ultimate soldier on Stargate Atlantis, yet he had a surprisingly sweet side. And he was sexy as all get out. Emily Rose makes a fantastic heroine. She plays Audrey Parker on the Haven television show (adapted from a Stephen King novella). She’s smart, logical and slightly vulnerable. So I choose them. :)

Fated by Rebecca Zanetti

Marry Me

Cara Paulsen does not give up easily. A scientist and a single mother, she's used to fighting for what she wants, keeping a cool head, and doing whatever it takes to protect her daughter Janie. But "whatever it takes" has never before included a shotgun wedding to a dangerous-looking stranger with an attitude problem. . .

Or Else

Sure, the mysterious Talen says that he's there to protect Cara and Janie. He also says that he's a three-hundred-year-old vampire. Of course, the way he touches her, Cara might actually believe he's had that long to practice. . . 
 

Thank you Rebecca for joining us here today at From the Shadows!

To learn more about Rebecca Zanetti and her books, please visit her website.

**Fated International Giveaway**

We are giving away a copy of Fated by Rebecca Zanetti to one lucky winner!

To enter, please leave a comment on this post (including your email address so we may contact you if you win).  You do not have to be a follower to enter (though I always appreciate a follow!).  This giveaway is International!  Giveaway ends April 12th midnight EST.

Book Review: The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place #1) by Maryrose Wood.

Found running wild in the forest of Ashton Place, the Incorrigibles are no ordinary children: Alexander, age ten or thereabouts, keeps his siblings in line with gentle nips; Cassiopeia, perhaps four or five, has a bark that is (usually) worse than her bite; and Beowulf, age somewhere-in-the-middle, is alarmingly adept at chasing squirrels.

Luckily, Miss Penelope Lumley is no ordinary governess. Only fifteen years old and a recent graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, Penelope embraces the challenge of her new position. Though she is eager to instruct the children in Latin verbs and the proper use of globes, first she must help them overcome their canine tendencies.  But mysteries abound at Ashton Place: Who are these three wild creatures, and how did they come to live in the vast forests of the estate? Why does Old Timothy, the coachman, lurk around every corner? Will Penelope be able to teach the Incorrigibles table manners and socially useful phrases in time for Lady Constance's holiday ball? And what on earth is a schottische?

Review:

A fabulously fun middle-grade series.  The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling is the enchanting first book in The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series.  This book is a delightful middle-grade read.  Miss Penelope Lumley, fifteen year old graduate of Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, is thrust into her first position as governess at the manor house of the wealthy Ashton family.  The children who are put in young Penelope's care, however are not the progeny of Lord and Lady Ashton, but orphans that have been recently forced, at gunpoint, to leave their home in the woods on the Ashton estate grounds.  Fortunately for the children, Penelope has a large heart and an even larger desire to take her role as governess quite seriously.  Armed only with her wits and the anecdotes of her former school mistress Agatha Swanburne, Penelope faces the challenges and mysteries of the incorrigible children.  Maryrose Wood weaves a lighthearted tale that will appeal to young readers and readers who remain young at heart.

I highly recommend The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling to readers of Victorian mysteries and middle-grade fiction.  The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling may appeal to fans of The Agency series by Y.S. Lee.

Note: I read much of this book out loud to my corgi and she *loved* it!  Wood's lyrical prose and the howling dialogue of the incorrigible children make this a fun book to read to others.

Source: This book was purchased by E.J. for review.


The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling on Amazon.
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling on Goodreads.

Guest Author Interview: Matt Forbeck

Please welcome today's guest author Matt Forbeck!  Matt is the author of the Guild Wars series (Ghosts of Escalon), Eberron: The Lost Mark series (Marked for Death, Road to Death, The Queen of Death), Blood Bowl, Amortals, and Vegas Knights.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Matt:   I started writing professionally when I was in college, first as a game designer writing rules for board games and books for tabletop roleplaying games. I'd written since I was in grade school, of course, and I have a degree in Creative Writing from the Residential College at the University of Michigan, but I first started getting paid for it when I was in college.

My first published short story came out in 1992 in an anthology based on the TORG roleplaying game called STRANGE TALES FROM THE NILE EMPIRE. It was a modern-day pulp mashup. I've written lots of shorts since then, and 15 novels, the first 13 of which were tie-ins based on games or films. My first original novel, AMORTALS, came out in the US in January, and my second, VEGAS KNIGHTS, is due out in March.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Matt:   I grew up reading comic books, which are not even a single bound away from what we now consider paranormal fiction. I also loved the noir fiction of Chandler and Hammett. Mixing the two into a modern-day setting makes for the best kind of fictional fusion cuisine.

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Matt:   Omniscience, although that might be asking for a bit too much. Knowing everything might blow even the brightest mind. Otherwise, I'd say time travel. There's nothing like being able to go back and fix mistakes.

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Matt:  I had a ball writing it, and I hope they'll have just as much fun reading it. It's a fast-paced roller coaster of a ride that starts with two college freshmen heading to Las Vegas to try breaking the bank at the Blackjack tables by way of a little magic. They soon find out they're far from the first people to have thought of this, and it all spirals out of control from there.

Hmm. That's just a sales pitch, of course. How about a couple quotes?

The Ranting Dragon said "“I have held my breath before; I have felt my heartbeat rise before; but never have I physically shaken from the rush generated from the action contained in a book until I read Vegas Knights… If you’re craving a fast-paced action adventure, skip a movie and grab a copy of Vegas Knights instead… This is popcorn fantasy at its best.”

William King wrote "Vegas Knights is a smart, slick, noir fantasy. If Elmore Leonard had written Harry Potter for grown-ups, it would read something like this.”

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

Matt:  For VEGAS KNIGHTS? I don't really know. I'd suspect the leads would be relative unknowns, as they're pretty young. I could see George Clooney as Harry Houdini. He'd be perfect for that. Mostly I'd just be thrilled to see VEGAS KNIGHTS on the silver screen.

Vegas Knights by Matt Forbeck.

Ocean’s Eleven meets Harry Potter as two student wizards try to scam a Vegas casino… using magic!

When two college freshmen decide to use Spring Break making magic on the gambling tables of Las Vegas, little do they imagine that Vegas harbours a dark magical secret of its own… the whole place is run by magic, and they won’t believe who’s in charge…


Thank you Matt for joining us here today at From the Shadows!

To learn more about Matt Forbeck and his books, please visit his website.

Hope Welsh Ebook Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations BLHmistress winner of our Hope Welsh Ebook Giveaway!  BLHmistress will receive three ebooks by Hope Welsh, Linked, The Storm Within, and Forbidden and Bitten.

Thank you to all who entered! 

Didn't win?  Check out the Shadows of Myth and Legend Book Birthday Giveaway for a signed copy of Shadows of Myth and Legend and swag pack (US) or ebook (International) here (ends 3/31) and the Those Who Fight Monsters Giveaway for a signed copy of the urban fantasy anthology Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult Detectives (US) here (ends 4/5).


**All From the Shadows giveaway winners selected using Random.org**

Spring Spirit Guide Series Postcards

It's that time again!  Want a free Spirit Guide Series postcard signed by E.J.?

Join E.J.'s mailing list by filling out the form here and receive a signed 'Yuki with Cherry Blossoms' Spirit Guide Series postcard.  Your privacy is important and your address will never be shared or sold.  US mailing addresses only sorry! I promise wonderful things for international fans soon.

Happy Spring! xx

Guest Author Interview: Zoe Winters

Please welcome today's guest author Zoe Winters!  Zoe is the author of the Preternaturals series including Blood Lust and Save My Soul.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Zoe:   I don't remember my exact age, but I know for sure I was writing by junior high because I wrote a novel in 8th grade. It was like a Goosebumps/R.L. Stine sort of thing.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Zoe:  Well, in jr. high there was the whole Goosebumps thing, but I didn't get back into paranormal until adulthood. Like many paranormal romance authors, I got hooked on Buffy and her vampire romances.

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Zoe:  The power of teleportation because you save on gas money and can go anywhere at any time. Sick? Boom. You're at the doctor's office. Your cousin six states away needs you? Boom. You're there. Want to visit Japan? Well, you get the picture. To me it would be the most useful, time saving, and money saving power to have.

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Zoe:  Save my soul has a healthy dose of both snark/humor and angst as well as a very satisfying ending. Actually, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say my own book has a satisfying ending, but it totally does, so I'm saying it anyway.

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

Zoe:  I actually have no idea who I'd cast in male roles. Though I'd put Eliza Dushku as Anna because she has a great range... great with snark/comedy but also plays the frightened/vulnerable role well. Anna is a bit of both.

Save My Soul (Preternaturals, book 2) by Zoe Winters.

ALL HE'S ASKING FOR IS HER SOUL

After buying the antebellum home she’s fantasized about since childhood, Anna Worthington discovers Luc, a dangerously seductive incubus who has been trapped in the house by a fifty-year-old curse. To rid herself of her problem house guest she’ll call on a priest, gypsies, ghost hunters, and the coven of witches from lust bunny hell. All she has to do is resist him long enough to break the spell so they can go their separate ways. If she doesn’t, she could die. And that would be the best case scenario.


Thank you Zoe for joining us here today at From the Shadows!

To learn more about Zoe Winters and her books, please visit her website.

Book Review + Giveaway 'Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult Detectives'

Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult Detectives edited by Justin Gustainis.

Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult Detectives brings together popular characters from many Urban Fantasy paranormal investigative series, for your enjoyment.

Meet the Detectives:

Danny Hendrickson - from Laura Anne Gilman's Cosa Nostradamus series.
Kate Connor - from Julie Kenner’s Demon Hunting Soccer Mom series.
John Taylor - from Simon R. Green’s Nightside series.
Jill Kismet - from Lilith Saintcrow’s Jill Kismet series.
Jessi Hardin - from Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty Norville series.
Quincey Morris - from Justin Gustainis’ Morris/Chastain Investigations series.
Marla Mason - from T. A. Pratt's Marla Mason series.
Tony Foster - from Tanya Huff’s Smoke and Shadows series.
Dawn Madison - from Chris Marie Green’s Vampire Babylon series.
Pete Caldecott - from Caitlin Kittredge’s Black London series.
Tony Giodone - from C. T. Adams and Cathy Clamp’s Tales of the Sazi series.
Jezebel - from Jackie Kessler’s Hell on Earth series.
Piers Knight - from C. J. Henderson’s Brooklyn Knight series.
Cassiel - from Rachel Caine’s Outcast Season series.

Demons may lurk, werewolves may prowl, vampires may ride the wind. These are things that go bump in the night, but we are the ones who bump back!

Review:

Tasty bites of dark, gritty Urban Fantasy.  Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult Detectives is a wonderful collection of urban fantasy short stories.  This anthology takes us on numerous paranormal adventures with the intriguing, multifaceted perspective of fourteen hunters and their prey.  I enjoyed the diversity of this anthology.  While these short stories all share a common thread, they are also each unique.  Take a journey into the bowels of nightmare cities, roam the streets with weres and fae, or pull up a stool at your favorite watering hole.  No matter where you turn there be monsters...and those who dare to fight them.

Here are spoiler-free teasers to give the flavor of each short story in this delectable UF anthology.

"So, uh, what exactly is the beast of Felport? Werewolf, demon, undead mutant water buffalo? My grasp of local history is a little shaky"
-Little Better than a Beast

"Huuuuuuuman." That one came from somewhere off to my left.  The shiver became an itch, the urge to follow, to find the treasure such a creature undoubtedly hid here, below ground, in its mines.
-Dusted

Besides, I didn't have the best of luck with boys.  The first time I went out with a guy, he turned out to be a demon.
-The Demon You Know...

It's always half full of junk and garbage, and the only reason there aren't any bodies to step over is because the rats have eaten them all. You have to watch out for rats in the Nightside; some people say they're evolving.
-The Spirit of the Thing

When another hunter calls, you go.  It's that simple.  We who hold back the tide of Hell don't ask for help lightly.
-Holding the Line

What was it Kitty sometimes said? Just when you thought you were getting a handle on the supernatural, just when you thought you'd seen it all, something even more unbelievable came along.
-Defining Shadows

The once coal-black hair was shot through with streaks of gray that made him look older than his years.  The black hair came from the Morris family tree.  The gray was put there by the family profession, begun over a century ago by a man who died in the shadow of Castle Dracula.
-Deal Breaker

Having Henry Fitzroy, bastard of Henry VIII, romance writer, and vampire based in Vancouver was enough to bring in the fine and freaky.  Since Tony had started developing his powers, the freaky vastly outnumbered the fine.
-See Me

As a former vampire who'd been turned human again with the termination of her maker, Dawn knew just what it was like to feel the darkness as it tried to drag you under.
-Soul Stains

The Lament was theoretically a neutral zone in the Black, the ebb and flow of magical London that existed out of most people's sight.  No fighting, no magic and no Fae.
-Under the Hill and Far Away

Blame the werewolf in me.  When I get annoyed, my mask of humanity slips a little, even with my former employer.
-An Ace in the Hole

"I'm an equal opportunity succubus," I agreed happily.  Whatever the gender, whatever the form, I loved humans.  To death.
-Hell Bound

He worked as a curate at the rightly famous Brooklyn Museum.  As such, Knight had access to both religious and blasphemous articles of historical significance from throughout human history.
-Impossible Love

Luis didn't like to let me stray too far, claiming that I was a magnet for trouble.  That might have had some credence, actually; I did seem to draw attention to myself far too much for safety.
-Running Wild

I highly recommend Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult Detectives to readers of urban fantasy, paranormal romance, paranormal suspense, and especially to fans of urban fantasy anthologies.  Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult Detectives may appeal to fans of Justin Gustainis, T.A. Pratt, Laura Anne Gilman, Julie Kenner, Simon R. Green, Lilith Saintcrow, Carrie Vaughn, Tanya Huff, Chris Marie Green, Caitlin Kittredge, C.T. Adams, Cathy Clamp, Jackie Kessler, C.J. Henderson, and Rachel Caine.

Sensitive reader warning: mild violence, sexual situations.  The short story 'Hell Bound' contains explicit adult material.

Source: This book was provided by the author or publisher for honest review.

Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult Detectives on Amazon.
Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult Detectives on Goodreads.

 **Those Who Fight Monsters Giveaway**

We are giving away a copy of Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult Detectives signed by Justin Gustainis!

To enter, please leave a comment on this post including your email address (so we may contact you if you win).  You do not have to be a follower to enter (though I always appreciate a follow!).  US mailing addresses only.  Giveaway ends April 5th midnight EST.