Another Review, Award Finalist

My next book, Havana: Killing Castro, has received a 5-star reader review and is one of four finalists in the Reader's Favorite poll in the Fiction-Thriller category. Winners will be announced on January 15th! This book will be available from Eternal Press and Amazon.com on January 7.

- David Pereda

Stay Tuned -- Havana: Killing Castro

My new book, Havana: Killing Castro, which has already won several awards, will be released on January 7, 2010. This is a sequel to my previous book, Havana: Top Secret, and features all the main characters of that book. I'm planning several readings, beginning at the end of January. I hope to see you at one of them. Happy New Year to all!

Stay Tuned -- Havana: Killing Castro

My new book, Havana: Killing Castro, which has already won several awards, will be released on January 7, 2010. This is a sequel to my previous book, Havana: Top Secret, and features all the main characters of that book. I'm planning several readings, beginning at the end of January. I hope to see you at one of them. Happy New Year to all!

New Reviews for FADE TO BLACK

I've recently recieved two new reviews for Fade to Black. Brynna from You Gotta Read Reviews had some really nice things to say; "Very well written and one you gotta read. Ms. Kuehl has become a new favorite of this reviewer." Love Romances and More gave Fade 3.5 Hearts.

I've been hard at work to the next installment in Sarah's adventures, currently entitled Malevolent Dead, and hope to have it finished soon.

Bite Me Holdiay Special

Happy Young Adult Day and Holidays to you all!

(I am afraid that the Anghels only celebrate Christmas, but happy Ramadan, Hanukkah, Diwali, and every conceivable holiday taking place in this general time period to you all.)

Dear Journal,

I got this notebook from Taylor, and besides being made of 100% post-consumer content - and raising funds to protect endangered species - it has black wolves on the cover. She’s been helping around the house since Mom has started to ail (good word, isn’t it?) and I think she’s figured some things out. I never can find the right moment to ask.

Anyway, it’s a nice notebook and lots of psychologists say keeping a diary is good for you, no matter how half-hearted. So I’m going to start with a description of this Christmas, the first Christmas with Nat living at our house.

On the last day of school before the vacation Matthew gave me a pair of shark mittens, and when I say this I mean that the mittens convert your hands into sharks: the thumbs are the lower jaws, your palms are lined with teeth and gaping red maw, and there is a fin on the back of each hand. I kissed him immediately and enthusiastically for that. Apparently his cousin in Michigan sells crazy-awesome knitted things and he commissioned the pair for $20. “Now you can pretend your hand is biting my hand when we hold hands.” When he unwrapped his (used but only mildly frayed) copy of American Gods I had stood in line for three hours at a book fair to get signed, he whooped and spun me around.

On the day itself Dad and Nat promised to stay up until 7 AM so Mom and I could join them for unwrapping. We woke to the buttery aromas of popcorn, peppermint hot chocolate, and Pillsbury rolls with jam; ultimately selfless acts of cookery from a pair of vampires.

“Why popcorn?” I asked as Mom – who has lost 10 pounds without meaning to in the past three months – carefully made her way down the stairs and kissed Dad.

Nat, who was for some reason wearing outrageously plaid red flannel pajamas and a sombrero, stuck the bowl in my hand with a gesture not to be refused. Dad explained, “I thought we should stick to easy and nearly-foolproof foods. Besides, popcorn feels festive, and it smells good even to us.”

“Why the sombrero?” Mom asked Nat.

“There’s no point in being cool if you can’t wear a sombrero, as a noted philosopher once said. Besides, it’s getting kind of sunny in here.”

Dad looked kind of sleepy but he smiled in the gentle way he doesn’t do enough. He put in an instrumental Christmas album and we ate/slurped blood/opened gifts. Since we were trying to save money the rule was each person got one present from each other person, and no one was to exceed $25 per gift. So this was my haul:

Dad gave me a subscription for Popular Science magazine, which came with a free glow-in-the-dark alarm clock. I’m going to share my issues with Matthew. From Mom I received gilded branch-and-leaves bobby pins so that my hair doesn’t always look like a neglected Pekinese, along with a pack of bison jerky that tastes good in either form. Nat handed me a red envelope with $25 cash.

“What? I hate shopping, teens like money.” He gave Mom a Barnes & Noble gift card and Dad an Amazon.com gift card. All for $25 exactly.

He was really testy this morning. Mom and Dad were talking about their Christmas traditions when they were young. I asked Nat what his family did, interested in hearing a first-person account from way back when, and he didn’t seem to hear me. I asked him again and he said he didn’t remember.

It occurred to all of us that we barely knew anything of Nat’s past.

“How old are you?”

“Does it matter?”

“Where were you born?”

“Don’t remember.”

At this point Mom mumbled, “Leave him alone, Andy.”

“How many siblings did you have?”

“They’re dead by now, so I don’t see the point.”

Mom said, “Dianne, don’t…” (He was shaking.)

“What’s your favorite Christmas carol?” I asked in what I hoped was a joking, soothing tone, but he jumped up. He spoke with a strain we had never heard in him before.

“Okay. I’m sorry if I’m ruining your celebration, but I need to make an exit. Now. Have fun.” And he stalked to his room.

We let him calm down as Mom and I finished our food and all three of us soberly threw away and recycled the wrapping paper. Dad went to sleep. Mom got on the phone with various members of her family, along with some old friends. I wrote Thank You cards to Uncle Ben, Aunt Cassi, and Grandparents Davidson for their savings bonds I could cash in when I entered college – not the most entertaining of presents, but ones I very much needed.

Some time after lunch I heard the song “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid” by The Offspring through the wall. Then it played again. And again. And again. And again. Nat’s room is next to mine. I knocked on the door.

“I’ll stop the music,” he said quickly.

I opened it. “That’s not what I’m worried about.”

He was still in the pajamas. His blinds were down. The sombrero rested atop his coffin, nearly lost among the clothes and books. He was huddled around an ancient CD player. It was dark enough in there that he didn’t need sunglasses. Not only were his irises red; the whites were marred with meandering arteries. “I’m sorry for the snit. You guys doing okay?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry for the pestering. Are you okay?” I shut the door behind me and sat against the wall.

The right side of his mouth tugged itself upward in something I would not call a smile, but not a grimace either. “I’m not good at Christmas. I haven’t been good at it since I was human. I haven’t even celebrated it since…” he obviously had to calculate, “before U.S. troops pulled out of Vietnam.”

“Did, um, did you get turned on Christmas?”

He laughed. “Oh, no. That would be way too Lifetime-movie. If Lifetime made movies about obnoxious vampires who go to medical school over and over under assumed identities so they feel like they’re doing something with the decades.”

“I would watch that.”

He sighed and was silent for a while. I waited. Eventually, staring into space, he said, “I feel like you three are a candle in the darkness, and I’m a damp tissue trying to get warm without putting you out.”

“As poetic as that is, I would like to point out that you are the most cheerful person here, and possibly the entire neighborhood, and we’d be pretty much sunk without your help. And, you know what? I’m sure you’ve done some bad things. You’re old enough to have made lots of mistakes. We want to know about you not because we want you to prove something…we want you to feel like we care.” I paused. “All right, maybe we’re a little curious too.”

“I…I…” he swallowed. “I do have a favorite Christmas carol. I actually heard it after I stopped celebrating Christmas. On the stereo of someone who was…they were good to me.”

“What is it?”

He smoothed out his hair and stood, crossing his arms behind his back, shutting his eyes, and facing the wall. I had not heard him sing before. His singing voice is deeper than Dad’s, which is kind of funny because Dad’s several inches taller than him.

I found the song on iTunes later. It’s called “Star of Wonder”. When he finished, I only said, “I can see why you like it.”

We hugged. He yawned and said he should get ready for coffin. I found a $10 bill slipped under my door in the morning.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Author’s Note:

I did not include the lyrics of this song in the body of the story, since I may like to publish it someday and obtaining the rights could be necessary and difficult. But since this is currently a free promotional piece, here are the words as Nat sang them, which I do not own:

Star of wonder in the heavens
Wonder what you want of me?
Should I follow you tonight?
Star of wonder,
Star of wonder,

I am just a lonely shepherd
Watching from a distant hill,
Why do you appear to me?
Star of wonder,
If you will.

In the morning they’ll come looking
For the shepherd on the hill
What would make him leave his flock,
For surely he must love them still?

Star of wonder in the heavens,
Are you just a shining star,
Or should I follow you tonight?
Star of wonder,
Star of wonder,
Shining bright.

In the version I am familiar with the narrator is female, however Nat changed the pronouns to fit him.

P.S. Bonus points if you know what “noted philosopher” Nat was referring to. Correct answerers get to name a character in my current novel, which is unrelated to the Laconia-verse.

3-Part Review for Esther May Morrow's Mysteries

I think even Esther May herself would be proud of these new reviews at Bitten by Books. All three EMM ebooks are praised, especially for their unpredictability--which makes me a very happy mystery writer indeed. Paranormal mysteries, I might add.

Check out Carol's views on the eponymous gift shop and its many enticing trinkets:

Esther May Morrow's Buy or Borrow:

http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=14623

Lot 62: An Esther May Morrow Mystery:

http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=14924

Fruitless: An Esther May Morrow Fantasy:

http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=14929

All titles are available as ebooks at Eternal Press & Fictionwise, or in paperback on Amazon.

Happy Holidays!

Arthur Everest

YOU GOTTA READ RATING FOR ANGEL OF WINDWORD!

Angel of Windword got a "You Gotta Read" rating....the highest rating from YOU GOTTA READ REVIEWS!

Read on:

Full of suspense, steamy scenes and intrigue this book will leave you stunned. Nicholas is the perfect dashing debonair gentleman of regency stature, while Angelique is his perfect match. Maggie Dove is an excellent spinner of the literary web and I enjoyed this book immensely. Definitely one you've gotta read.

Finding inspiration anywhere....

I had a very odd dream Friday night. Completely out of the blue, I dreamed about an ex-boyfriend I haven't seen in probably fifteen years. When I woke up, I was thoroughly confused. What had sparked the dream? Not a revenge dream, because I wasn't fighting with my husband. Hadn't looked his picture recently, or done anything to bring him to mind. So what the heck was he doing running around my subconscious?

Then I remembered a flash of detail from it - the way he used to crook his arm around my neck and let his hand dangle down the middle of my chest. Frantically I scrabble blindly for paper and pen on my nightstand. A flood of words pour out, and before I know it, I have a long paragraph about the way my heroine feels when the hero crooks his arm around her neck. The familiarity, the comfort to the gesture, and the bad girl vibe it gives her (and a few more things you'll have to wait until its published to see). I've had brainstorms a lot of strange places before, but never in my sleep. And yet I'm sure that is exactly what happened - my mind purposefully unlocked a memory that became the impetus for an important piece of the plot, not to mention character development.

The good news is, now that I figured it out, I don't feel a bit guilty dreaming about my ex - although I really don't need a repeat performance. Has this happened to anyone else?

Super Review for Angel of Windword!

Hi all,

I'm simply thrilled with this review for Angel of Windword by Cold Coffee Magazine!

COLD COFFEE MAGAZINE

Maggie Dove writes a wonderful debut novel in a style similar to that of famed romance writer Judith McNaught with intelligent writing and well developed characters, no pun intended. She deftly builds on the much used “girl forced into marriage with a man she does not know while she has a true love from childhood that she must leave behind” and weaves a tale that is gripping and fresh. That the hero and heroine do fall in love is no surprise and exactly what every romance reader wants. That she builds the murder mystery to a very suspenseful end that keeps the reader guessing throughout the tale is rewarding to the reader and a testament to Dove’s writing skill. She even pokes fun at the frivolity of romance novels with excerpts from a book author supposed to be the rage in London and beyond at the time. Look for Maggie Dove’s name on the bestsellers list in the future. These 242 pages could have been 500 and the reader would be left wanting more…



http://www.maggiedove.net/

Angel of Windword

http://www.eternalpress.ca/

http://www.amazon.com/

Merry Christmas

My thanks to everyone who chatted with me and the many new authors showcased December 7th by Eternal Press! I had great fun chatting with friends old and new.

My Vampire novel, "Killer Queen" is getting some wonderful attention and I am honoured to be part of this talented group!

H. McAlendin
http://mcalendin.com
http://www.eternalpress.ca/killerqueen.html

Christmas Events with Kristin Battestella's Scares and Leigh Wood's Spices!

Alright my little scary elves! Do you need more fright to go along with your cold December night? Perhaps you'd prefer some wine, cuddles, and other more fleshy ways to keep warm throughout the holidays! with Kristin Batttestella's dark fantasy The Vampire Family and Leigh Wood's science fiction erotica On the Way to New Isosceles Eternal Press gives it to you both ways!

http://leighwood.blogspot.com
http://vampfam.blogspot.com


Neighbors, fellow Eternal Press authors, and native New Jersey- make that South Jersey- gals also spook and delight at our collaborative livejournal Scares and Spices. You'll see it's me Kristin doing all the blog work and posting. Leigh's not exactly morally and technologically advanced for the internet age.

http://kristin724.livejournal.com




In addition to the excerpts, free chapters, reviews, and interviews at our blogs, you can also catch us at the following virtual events this month. Check out the calendar on the Kristin Battestella Yahoo group, too, for an even bigger list of Leigh Wood Appearances for January and February. Also look for Leigh's interview this month at Novelspot! She's doing another behind the scenes writing series with them in 2010, too.


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kristinbattestella/cal


12/8 Eternal Press Author's Blog Paranormal Day
12/9 Leigh Wood's Interview at Novelspot.net
12/11 EP Authors at the Romance Bistro
12/12 EP Visits the Love and Romance Cafe
12/15 Leigh Wood Guest Day at the Kristin Battestella Yahoo Group
12/23 Eternal Press Author's Blog Erotica Day


Don't forget that you will receive a FREE Christmas Read with your ebook purchase at the Eternal Press website, and you can also pick up On the Way to New Isosceles in paperback on Amazon.

http://www.eternalpress.ca/onthewaytonewisosceles.html


http://www.amazon.com/Way-New-Isosceles-Leigh-Wood/dp/1926704908/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259631468&sr=8-1


Whew! Who else has a naughty Christmas list?



Sibling Rivalry BITES!
The Vampire Family
by Kristin Battestella
Ebook or Paperback Available Now
http://vampfam.blogspot.com

An Interview with Jezebel's Family, Erotic Paranormal, Jezebel's Article

Hi Readers!

I managed to get ahold of an interview of a couple of my characters, before they destroyed it :) You see, no one is supposed to know about them...and there are vampires out there who would kill to keep the secret. So let's keep this on the hush, hush, now shall we? Tehe

Happy Launch Day to everyone coming out with excellent books this month!

Cheers,

Kayden McLeod

An Interview with:

Jade Hollander, Jezebel’s Cousin

Marianna Hollander, Jezebel’s Grandmother

Jezebel’s Article

Interviewer: Hello Marianna, Jade, it’s nice to finally meet you!

Jade: Hi! Ditto, for sure.. *smiles* Sorry that I’m a little late. I’ve been told I couldn’t be on time if my life depended on it.

Interviewer: Ha ha! Don’t worry about it. The only other thing I have to do today is talk to your Grandmother. We were just having a nice chat while we were waiting.

Jade: *Sheepishly looks towards Marianna* I thought her interview was beforemine.

Marianna: Not so much, but if you had your head on your shoulders right, you’d know that. *smiles* But don’t worry, we can conduct it at the same time.

Jade: Sorry Grandma…next time…

Marianna: *Shakes her head in exasperation* Uh huh, believe that when I see it. *Turns to Interviewer* I’m sorry Jezebel couldn’t make today, Adrian and Doros can be a…handful.. Or two.

Interviewer: *Laughs* I bet! From the little you’ve told me of them, I have an idea. So Jade, I hear you were the one to take Jezebel to a sex party, filled with vampires. No offence Marianna, but weren’t you scared?

Marianna: None taken.

Jade: Of course not! Why would I be?

Interviewer: Well…they are vampires. Aren’t the pure all significantly more powerful than the converts? They can do things that the ignorant human population can’t bend their mind around. Wouldn’t it frighten you that they can control everything you do, if they so chose to?

Jade: *Bursts out laughing* Never! My Grandma would kick their asses, no problem. As the human descendents of Marianna, we’re under Coven protection. Besides, all they’re looking for is a little blood, and a lot of sex. No big deal..

Interviewer: I bet! Sounds delicious, but there is one thing I don’t understand. How does a vampire have human descendants exactly?

Marianna: Well for me…my son married a human, and she refused to turn. During her lifetime, they had quite a few children together, and their decedents have always been under my protection.. Jezebel and Jade are the fourth generation of the human side of my family.

Jade: Yea and we’re the first ones ever to…

Marianna: Hush now, there are some things this human doesn’t need to know.

Interviewer: Oh, what? You can tell me.

Marianna: Jade, tell her more about why you took Jez to the party.

Interviewer: *Eyes light up with interest* Yes Jade…please do..

Jade: Well Jezebel’s ex-boyfriend is a total skeeze-ball, and she needed help to get over him. Something the attendees do really well in my opinion. At first I didn’t know how to get her there, but then she told me about needing a topic for her article. I already knew from past experience what kind of stuff happens at this party, and if nothing else, she could have an insider’s view.

Interviewer: Oh, for that new job at the special-interest paper. From what I know about her, this doesn’t sound like her kind of thing.

Jade: It isn’t really, but she can be adventurous when she wants to be. I talked her into the topic of sex parties, and eventually she saw my point of view, well most of it anyways. I wanted her to hook up with someone, but I neglected to mention that part.

Interviewer: Your Grandmother revealed Jezebel’s obsession with vampires. Was it your intention to introduce her to them?

Jade: Well, yes and no. She was just so upset, and the best way to get over someone, is to get someone else under you. *Smiles* It didn’t matter much to me who it was. She totally lucked out, and surpassed all of my expectations.

Interviewer: With Adrian and Doros you mean. How did she luck out?

Jade: Oh, I can’t tell you that. You’ll have to read the story Jez had Kayden McLeod write for her. It will tell you everything you need to know.

Marianna: *Gaze flicks to the clock on the wall* I have much that must be accomplished today, we should go. You've had your fun, and now it's done.

Interviewer: Of course! I’m sure you’re a busy woman. We should do this again some time.

Marianna: I doubt it, and you won’t even remember this meeting. I live only to please my blood....it is all I have anymore, but I cannot have you humans running around gossiping about my kind.

Interviewer: Excuse me?

Jade: Grandma, why’d we do this, if you’re not even going to allow her the memory? That isn't what we talked about.

Marianna: I know. You were upset that Jezebel got a book, even though it was all your idea. This was a bad idea from the beginning, and you know as well as I, the Council would give us a lot of trouble if we allow these humans to know even the most basic thing about us.

Jade: Well then, this just sucks! Jez gets her own stuff, and I get an interviewer with a nonexistent article no one will ever see. Just flippin’ great.

Interviewer: What's going on?

Marianna: *Stares into Interviewers’ eyes* You will remember nothing, not either of us, or this interview.

Jade: *Rolls eyes* Council or no Council, this totally sucks! And to think I could’ve just slept in this morning…if Jezebel ever gives me back my apartment. Next time, don’t placate me.. It’s better that way, I don't like to play pretend. Grandma, I'm not a child...

Marianna: Yes, I know. At least not in your years, but in mine you're an infant. But I was thinking since Jez…oh but you wouldn’t like that. *Sly grin*

Jade: Like what Grandma?! Don’t just leave me hanging like that. You know I hate suspense, not when it's about me anyways.

Marianna: We could have Kayden write about you…maybe.

Jade: But what if she doesn’t want to? She never mentioned anything like this to me.

Marianna: Honey, I’m over five-centuries old. You think I can’t handle one little human writer? Plus, even if she does say no, I can take away her memories of us. Then where would she be?

Jade: *Evil smile* Nowhere. I like it. When can we get started?

Marianna: Let’s go see her right now.

Visit me at:

http://www.kaydenmcleod.com/

To Buy Jezebel's Article:

http://www.eternalpress.ca/jezebelsarticle.html

First Review For Killer Queen!

I am very pleased to reveal the first review for my new Vampire novel, "Killer Queen". I look forward to chatting with everyone on Monday, December 7th starting at 7 pm!

Heather McAlendin

This is a unique look into modern day vampires. This book has it all, bloodlust, greed, betrayal, and vengeance. It held me on the edge of my seat and I could not put it down. Silver Devries takes us through this tale giving us a view into the souls of the soulless. As an author, I can highly recommend this book to the readers of the dark side.

J. W. Thompson, author of Mysterious Lady and Hidden Evil.

"Ink Me" launch party on Dec 7!

For those in the Toronto (Canada) area, I'm going to be holding a real-life launch party for my new release, Ink Me, coming out on December 7!

Where: Dance Cave, 529 Bloor St W, above Lee's Palace; 1.5 blocks from the Bathurst subway station

When: Dec 7 @ 10 PM, running until 1:30 AM

Why: To celebrate the release of Ink Me!

Who: Lots of my friends, and any EP readers who feel like a night out!

RSVP: You don't need to! Just come on out. :)

As it is a club event, attendance is limited to those of drinking age (19) and older. Speaking of drinks, they're $3 until midnight, and there will be free truffles (of the chocolate variety) and possibly other goodies! There's no cover charge, and the music is 80's and retro. Come out to socialize, have fun, meet some new people, get your dance on, and help me celebrate the release of my book!

For those of you who can't make it out due to geography or other reasons, I'll be hitting the EP online launch party from 8 PM to 9 PM. So please drop on by and say hello! :D

Maggie Dove - Writer of Historical Romance - Featured in Cold Coffee Magazine Issue 4

Hi everyone,
I'm super excited and proud to say that I'm one of the three featured authors in Cold Coffee Magazine Issue #4! The magazine is a beautiful coffee table magazine for authors and readers alike.
Visit Cold Coffee at:
http://coldcoffee.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network






Angel of Windword
www.maggiedove.net
http://www.eternalpress.ca/


http://www.amazon.com/

On the Way to New Isosceles in Paperback!

Leigh posted this good news on our collaborative livejournal Scares and Spices, so I thought I'd pass it along here-in the spirit of Erotica Day, of course! Just think, now Leigh Wood can shock and awe the print masses with her science fiction erotica!

Straight from the horse's mouth:

Alright my Woodsters! After haunting my blank Amazon page for almost a month, I can now say that my science fiction erotica novel from Eternal Press On the Way to New Isosceles is now available in PAPERBACK!




Ready for the big link? Me too!



http://www.amazon.com/Way-New-Isosceles-Leigh-Wood/dp/1926704908/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259631468&sr=8-1



'Isn't butter divinity?'

I don't have much else to say at this point. Maybe my higher functions will return later!

LW
Sex in Space, Oh My!
On the Way to New Isosceles

by Leigh Wood

Available NOW from Eternal Press

http://leighwood.blogspot.com/



Scares and Spices!
Horror by Kristin Battestella
Erotica by Leigh Wood
http://kristin724.livejournal.com