HOLLOWS AND WITCHES

How far into the hollow would you go? 

“After losing her parents in a terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, fifteen-year-old Honoria escapes New York City to Arnn—a farming town with more legends than residents, and a history of witchcraft and secrets best left buried.

Everyone in Arnn knows the story of Witchwood Hollow: if you venture into the whispering forest, the witch will trap your soul among the shadowed trees. In the lure of that perpetual darkness, Honoria finds hope when she should be afraid, and a past of missing children and broken promises. To save the citizens of Arnn from becoming the witch’s next victims, she must find the truth behind the woman’s madness. How deep into Witchwood Hollow does Honoria dare venture?”

ESCAPE FROM WITCHWOOD HOLLOW is Jordan Elizabeth’s first novel. This young adult fantasy, published through Curiosity Quills Press, is now available for purchase at CURIOSITY QUILLS
 

https://curiosityquills.com/books/escape-witchwood-hollow/

Jordan Elizabeth, formally Jordan Elizabeth Mierek, can’t get enough of the woods, be it splashing through a stream, sitting beneath an ancient oak, or following a path up a hill. Some of those adventures have led to abandoned foundations. Exploring the rocks and crumbling bricks sparked Jordan to imagine who might have lived there before, and that train of thought carried her to a wicked legend and an enchanted hollow. 

You can contact Jordan via her website, www.JordanElizabethMierek.com.

Facts about Witchwood Hollow

As told by Honoria

1) Before we get to Witchwood Hollow, let me tell you about Arnn. The first European settlers ventured here around 1670.

2) Arnn began with a fort – it is gone now – and the people spread out into neighboring farms.

3) Arnn became an official town in 1798. I’m not sure what official means. It’s just what the social studies teacher told us in class.

4) Witchwood Hollow consists primarily of maple, oak, apple, and pine trees.

5) When you venture into Witchwood Hollow, the witch traps you.

6) Some adults don’t want to talk about Witchwood Hollow; others are more than happy to. I guess that isn’t really a fact.

7) Local records show that Witchwood Hollow has “consumed” 175 people.

8) Teens come from all over New York State to see how far into the hollow they will go.

9) I, Honoria, have ventured into Witchwood Hollow the farthest.

10) The witch is supposedly gone now. I want to bring her back. 

Jordan Elizabeth is offering up a free eArc of ESCAPE FROM WITCHWOOD HOLLOW. To enter for your chance to win a copy of ESCAPE FROM WITCHWOOD HOLLOW, you will need to share the cover. 

This can be on your blog, Facebook, Twitter… Each time you share the cover image, log it into Rafflecoper to record it. It will give you more chances to win. There are other ways to enter. You’ll have to take a look to see what those are! 

The drawing for the winner will be held on November 16.


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GEARS OF BRASS!

Gear up for GEARS OF BRASS!

A world like ours, but filled with gears of brass, where the beating heart is fueled by steam and the simplest creation is a complex clockwork device.

Within this tome, you’ll find steampunk fairy tale re-tellings, as well as original stories that will send your gears turning.

Welcome to the steampunk realm, with eleven authors guiding your path.

GEARS OF BRASS is a steampunk anthology published through Curiosity Quills. It will be available for purchase on November 10, 2014. Within the pages, you’ll come across clockwork inventions and steampunk-ified fairy tale retellings. Eleven authors will guide you through worlds filled with airships, top hats, and corsets.

Meet the authors:

Jordan Elizabeth writes young adult fantasy for Curiosity Quills, including ESCAPE FROM WITCHWOOD HOLLOW which was published in October and the upcoming TREASURE DARKLY; she’s represented by the Belcastro Agency.

J. Million is the author of Last of the Giants and can always be found reading or writing.

Lorna MacDonald Czarnota is a professional storyteller and author of several books including, Medieval Tales That Kids Can Read and Tell, Breadline Blue, Legends Lore and Secrets of Western New York, Wicked Niagara, Native American and Pioneer Sites of Upstate New York, and Dancing at the Crossroads: Stories and Activities for At-Risk Youth Programming.

SA Larsen is represented by Paula Munier of Talcott Notch Literary and is the author of published short stories, community-interest stories, and magazine articles focused on children.

Grant Eagar is an Engineer who would take the tales he told his children at bed time, and transform them into fantasy stories.

Clare Weze is the author of The House of Ash (forthcoming) and the co-author and editor of Cloudscapes over the Lune.

Eliza Tilton: gamer, writer and lover of dark chocolate; author of the YA Fantasy, BROKEN FOREST, published by Curiosity Quills Press.

Heather Talty's stories have been featured in Enchanted Conversation, as well as her own fractured fairy tale site, Mythopoetical (www.Beatrixcottonpants.com).

W.K. Pomeroy is a third generation writer who has published more than 70 short stories/articles/poems across many genres and styles, which now includes Steampunk.

Christine Baker is the author of Lana's End, The Guild of Dagda, and many more.

Natalia Darcy: a bookilicious reader, tea drinker and Zumba aficionado who enjoys playing cards against humanity and washing her hair with ice cold water.

You can get your steampunk fix before GEARS OF BRASS is released in November. To enter for your chance to win a copy of GEARS OF BRASS, you will need to share the cover. This can be on your blog, Facebook, Twitter… Each time you share the cover image, log it into Rafflecoper (#insert link) to record it. It will give you more chances to win. The drawing for the winner will be held on October 27th.


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THE DECEMBER PEOPLE

Introducing a new dark wizard family drama, Destruction by Sharon Bayliss, Book One in The December People Series.

BUY NOW

THE BOOK SPOT

An independent family-owned bookstore. The ONLY place to buy signed copies!

BOOK PEOPLE

A locally owned book store in Austin, Texas.

AMAZON

BARNES AND NOBLE

David Vandergraff wants to be a good man. He goes to church every Sunday, keeps his lawn trim and green, and loves his wife and kids more than anything. Unfortunately, being a dark wizard isn't a choice.

Eleven years ago, David's secret second family went missing. When his two lost children are finally found, he learns they suffered years of unthinkable abuse. Ready to make things right, David brings the kids home even though it could mean losing the wife he can’t imagine living without. 

Keeping his life together becomes harder when the new children claim to be dark wizards. David believes they use this fantasy to cope with their trauma. Until, David's wife admits a secret of her own—she is a dark wizard too, as is David, and all of their children.  

Now, David must parent two hurting children from a dark world he doesn’t understand and keep his family from falling apart. All while dealing with the realization that everyone he loves, including himself, may be evil.

The Author

Sharon Bayliss is the author of The December People Series and The Charge. When she’s not writing, she enjoys living happily-ever-after with her husband and two young sons. She can be found eating Tex-Mex on patios, wearing flip-flops, and playing in the mud (which she calls gardening). She only practices magic in emergencies.

www.sharonbayliss.com - @SharonBayliss - https://www.facebook.com/authorsharonbayliss

ESCAPE FROM WITCHWOOD HOLLOW

 HOW FAR INTO THE HOLLOW 

WOULD YOU GO?

“After losing her parents in a terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, fifteen-year-old Honoria escapes New York City to Arnn—a farming town with more legends than residents, and a history of witchcraft and secrets best left buried.

Everyone in Arnn knows the story of Witchwood Hollow: if you venture into the whispering forest, the witch will trap your soul among the shadowed trees. In the lure of that perpetual darkness, Honoria finds hope when she should be afraid, and a past of missing children and broken promises. To save the citizens of Arnn from becoming the witch’s next victims, she must find the truth behind the woman’s madness. How deep into Witchwood Hollow does Honoria dare venture?”

ESCAPE FROM WITCHWOOD HOLLOW is Jordan Elizabeth’s first novel. This young adult fantasy will be published through Curiosity Quills Press on October 29, 2014. 

Jordan Elizabeth, formally Jordan Elizabeth Mierek, can’t get enough of the woods, be it splashing through a stream, sitting beneath an ancient oak, or following a path up a hill. Some of those adventures have led to abandoned foundations. Exploring the rocks and crumbling bricks sparked Jordan to imagine who might have lived there before, and that train of thought carried her to a wicked legend and an enchanted hollow. You can contact Jordan via her website, JordanElizabethMierek.com.

You don’t have to wait for October 29th to explore Witchwood Hollow. Jordan Elizabeth is offering up a free eArc. To enter for your chance to win a copy of ESCAPE FROM WITCHWOOD HOLLOW, you will need to share the cover. This can be on your blog, Facebook, Twitter… Each time you share the cover image, log it into Rafflecoper to record it. It will give you more chances to win. The drawing for the winner will be held on October 20th. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

THE ANGEL IN MY LAP

           My morning routine includes a cup of green tea, the morning news, and my Boston terrier, Patches sleeping soundly in my lap as we wait for the house to warm up. She curls up in my lap and lays her head on my arm—usually the arm next to that cup of tea.

          Heaven forbid I sit in the easy chair working on my laptop alone. This is her spot. She will stand with her paws on the armrest and stare me down with those big brown eyes until I put the computer away or make room for her too. I've learned to type with her paw on the keyboard. My new chair will be over-sized so there will always be room for her.

          If I eat, she has to eat. Moreover, if I go to the bathroom, she's waiting by the back door when I’m done. When I nap, she curls up beside me and snores with a sound that resonates as loud as a freight train, but it's a sound I love. Her greeting when I walk in the door is always smile inducing, and if I don't have a treat for her I feel like I've let her down, but she never complains. Her response to the word walk or the jingle of her lease, well I cannot help but wish her energy were transferable.

          I sometimes feel that she’s mini me, my shadow, my conscience. She is the reason I get up in the morning, literally. Each night she leads the way to bed and lets me tuck her in, but she won't rest her head until I'm in my bed next to hers.

          She just stretched and managed to capture my right arm, so I am typing this one handed while balancing my laptop on the arm of the chair. My teacup is empty, the news is repeating, and I really need to get to my day started. However, for several more minutes of cuddling with her, what better excuse to veg.

           She is an angel with deep brown eyes, soft warm body, few if any expectations, but a never-ending capacity to love. Leona Helmsley left 12 million dollars to her precious pet, and I know why!

          Patches is the angel in my lap, the sunshine that fills my day, and the love that makes my world go round.

Yolanda Renee © 2011

 Patches 

July 29, 2004 - July 3, 2014

I wrote this piece several years ago. Today, July 3, 2014, at 11:13 AM my little girl, Patches, passed away in my arms. I felt her heart stop beating. 

 On May 8th, she had two seizures within 12 hours and the doctor told us that it's typical for dogs to get epilepsy. We were hopeful and changed her diet. She seemed better. But on June 25 she had another, and then another and by Monday before her doctor's appointment, she'd had seven more seizures, and then another at the doctor's office. The doctor diagnosed a brain tumor. He gave us medication and it decreased the number and severity, but she was declining rapidly. She no longer knew her name, or us, or her surroundings. 

 Last night she allowed me to hold her for several hours. This morning I knew things were worse. I held her, assured her of my love, and prayed for God's mercy. She died in my arms and I'm so very grateful for the opportunity to have known such a beautiful creature. My heart is broken for the loss of her. 

R. I. P. - My sweet baby girl!

MURDER'S TRAILER

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I may have been too ill to work, but Apex Reviews came through for me!

A book trailer for Murder, Madness & Love.

How cool is that?

 http://www.apexreviews.net/

THE MURDER HOUSE

It is my privilege today to introduce you to Nancy Lynn Jarvis the author of the Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries series. To celebrate her latest release, The Murder House - Nancy is guest posting today and there's a giveaway! Take it away Nancy!

Show of hands, please, how many of you believe in ghosts?

Interesting.

 I don’t, you see, except that I’ve seen one, which really plays havoc with my nay-saying. And if I’m willing to go to just one degree of separation and listen to people tell of their first-hand experiences with ghosts, oh boy. It was from this ambivalent perspective that I wrote “The Murder House,” the fifth in my Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries series. 

Regan McHenry is a Realtor who winds up repeatedly playing amateur sleuth no matter how many times she swears she will never get involved in another murder. She, like me — a twenty-five year veteran of the real estate business— and many Realtors I know, has had the experience of walking into a house and having the hair stand up on the back of her neck . She knows what it’s like to be hit by a wave of cold and experience an overwhelming sensation of evil when previewing a house. 

Even so, like me, she clearly states that she doesn’t believe in ghosts, not when there might be a rational explanation for what seems like a spectral presence. Her certainty made it great fun to write a book in which Regan, convinced the only thing that might cause a house to be haunted was its past reputation, sometimes wonders if she is right.  

It was also fun to write the book because during the writing process, I began asking people if they believed in ghosts. What I discovered is that most people have a ghost story or two to tell even if they aren’t into the paranormal. And ghost sightings aren’t predictable based on the witness’s educational level, occupation, religion, culture, gender, or age. 

I was able to share my favorite ghost story in the book’s dedication, too. If you like, go to 

http://www.amazon.com/Murder-House-McHenry-Estate-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00HO114IA/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391550549&sr=1-1&keywords=Nancy+Lynn+Jarvis and click on “look inside” to read it. 

I used my personal ghost sighting in the book, as well. The ghost in the woods in “The Murder House” is what I saw at the Wayside Inn in Massachusetts before I knew many others had reported seeing such a ghost. In “The Murder House, “ there is a rational explanation for what people are seeing in the woods, though, and at the Wayside Inn, there isn’t.

After writing “The Murder House” and living with its alleged ghosts, did I change my mind and become a believer? As Regan says at the book’s conclusion when asked if she’s seen the ghost, “I think that’s too personal a question for you to ask.” Let’s just say that one thing is perfectly clear: I have developed a love of swapping ghost stories and would love to hear yours.

Leave me a comment with your ghost story and you'll be entered to win an eBook copy of The Murder House. The winner will be announced on February 28, 2014. You can read my review HERE!

***** ***** 

THE MURDER HOUSE

Every community has a house that people walk by hurriedly, nervously peeking at it out of the corners of their eyes. Bonny Doon is no exception. A bloody double  homicide occurred in the Murder House almost twenty years ago and the killer has eluded capture ever since. Recently the house was inherited and the new owner wants to sell. The problem is no one wants to buy a house with a reputation and reports that it’s home to ghosts. The seller thinks Realtor Regan McHenry would make a perfect listing agent ― after all, with her penchant for playing amateur sleuth, she’s no stranger to murder. This is the perfect mystery to read if you don’t believe in ghosts — and an even better mystery to read if you do.

***** *****

Nancy Lynn Jarvis was a Santa Cruz, California, Realtor for twenty-five years but was having so much fun writing that she let her license lapse in May of 2013.

After earning a BA in behavioral science from San Jose State University, she worked in the advertising department of the San Jose Mercury News. A move to Santa Cruz meant a new job as a librarian and later a stint as the business manager of Shakespeare/Santa Cruz. Nancy's work history reflects her philosophy: people should try something radically different every few years. Writing is her newest adventure.

She put Regan, Tom , and Dave from the Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries Series on hiatus to write Mags and the AARP Gang, a comedy/adventure about a group of octogenarian would-be bank robbers, but she missed her characters, so they're back to solve another murder In the newly released "Murder House."

The next book is unclear because she has another idea for a mystery as well as an idea for another very different book.

***** *****

Nancy's Author Page

Don't forget - to win an eBook copy of THE MURDER HOUSE leave your ghost story in a comment.

H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y !