Hi everybody! I need some help with my release of The Phoenix Project through US publisher Booktrope. I have set up a Thunderclap campaign to try and get the word out. Any support would be greatly appreciated.
https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/35467-the-phoenix-project-release
Thank you so much!
Around six months ago I was lucky enough to read ‘The Tethering’ by Megan O’Russell. this fantastic YA fantasy blew me away with its engaging storyline and likable characters. Well, here she is again with another cracker (pun thoroughly intended!)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Fiery Seas Publishing, LLC
Pre-order/Buy link: http://www.amazon.com/Nuttycracker-Sweet-Megan-ORussell-ebook/dp/B018DDKLR2/
Release Date: December 8, 2015
Book Trailer Link: https://youtu.be/JtCwOu8QT58
Pointe shoes, tutus, and a snowy road trip with the man she hates. What could possibly go wrong?
The plan was simple. Get to Portland, dance The Nutcracker, and don’t murder your dance partner. And most definitely, do not, under any circumstances, fall in love with him.
A snowy road trip strands Elle Grant in a tiny cabin better suited for serial killings than rehearsals for two professional ballet dancers. With no one but the incredibly talented, excruciatingly handsome, and notoriously terrible Zachary Benson and a few taxidermy woodland creatures for company, Elle’s Christmas plans are officially ruined. Can she and Zach learn to like each other enough to dance together? And can Elle get home without losing her heart to the Christmas Cavalier?
About the Author:
Megan is thrilled to be working with Fiery Seas Publishing! Her other published works include Young Adult fantasy novels The Tethering and The Siren’s Realm. Megan is also a featured author in the Athena’s Daughters 2 anthology of women in speculative fiction.
Megan is a professional performer who travels the country living out a thousand lives on stage. Her wonderful husband and frequent dance partner is always by her side.
For more information on Megan’s books, you can visit her website at meganorussell.com
Social Media:
On the 18th October, The #Awethors facebook group will be releasing two Anthologies which involve nearly 50 authors worldwide.
One of the anthologies is Awethology Dark. This is a set of short stories for adults. (My brand new short story ‘The End’ featured in this one!)
The other is called Awethology Light and is for any age group especially those under 18.
The eBooks of both of these anthologies will be FREE and paperbacks will also be available. Please grab a copy and enjoy all the different genres of awesome indie authors worldwide.
Blurb for my entry – The End
Wayne Dixon, a middle-aged bachelor, is cursed by voices echoing inside his head. They tell him that soon the world will end. It is his duty to the human race to convince as many people as possible that the end is approaching, but nobody will listen to him. As the end gets nearer, will he convince them to join him or will they all be doomed?
Cover Reveal for The Phoenix Project by D.M. Cain
It’s here! Dark, gritty psychological thriller The Phoenix Project undergoes a makeover in the brand new Booktrope edition. Completely re-edited and re-designed, don’t miss this stunning cover by the talented Amalia Chitulescu.
Dark and gritty dystopian thriller The Phoenix Project by D.M. Cain has undergone a complete revamp with US publisher Booktrope. It has been re-edited from start to finish with new background information on some minor characters, and a few scenes altered. The biggest change to the content is that the epilogue has been removed from the book itself and can now be found HERE.
To go with the changes in content, The Phoenix Project has had a completely new cover designed by the very talented Amalia Chitulescu!
The image was chosen very carefully to suit the tone and plot of the book. The man on the front (protagonist, Raven) is looking to the floor, to symbolise the guilt and sadness that weigh him down. Chains coil around his arms, indicating his captivity – both in the physical and psychological sense. The background is bleak and hopeless (a theme that is very prevalent in the book), yet the flames around Raven suggest the possibility of rebirth and regeneration.
The book will be available to buy soon from a wide range of digital and paperback distributors.
Author: D.M. Cain
Title: The Phoenix Project
Genre: Psychological thriller/Dark thriller/Dystopian
Book Content: Occasional adult language, graphic violence, and mild sexual content.
Original Cover Design from the first edition:
Synopsis:
How can you fight to the death, when you’ve given up on life?
A thought provoking and compelling dystopian world that will change the way you view justice…
A man fights for life—and redemption—in D. M. Cain’s riveting re-released novel, The Phoenix Project.
Britain has descended into chaos as violence and terrorist attacks seethe across this once-peaceful country. Outraged by the steady stream of lawlessness, citizens demand a harsher penal system, and the Phoenix Project is born.
In prisons across the country, inmates fight to the death in a weekly bloodbath while the nation cheers them on.
Raven Kennedy, a prisoner who has never forgiven himself for his unspeakable crime, struggles against his own guilt and self-loathing. But even as the real war wages on within himself, Raven is forced to battle some of the prison’s most ruthless killing machines. Can he survive long enough to unravel the anger and regret that shackle him—and one day find the forgiveness he seeks?
‘The Phoenix Project by D.M. Cain is a superbly written debut, soaked in tension and intrigue,’ Jack Croxall, author of the ‘Tethers’ trilogy.
I am so proud to be hosting the re-launch of this incredible book. I read ‘The Distant Sound of Violence’ a few months ago, and the messages within it and the depth of the plot have stayed with me ever since. (I have now passed this book on to others, because I can’t seem to go a single day without recommending it to somebody!) This book also features Nathan Dawes – one of the greatest literary characters I have ever seen! An all-round incredible book and definitely an author to watch out for.
So, here it is!
Seven Days, Seven Blogs, Seven Chapters
Day Three, Chapter Three
The Distant Sound of Violence by Jason Greensides Relaunch Blog Tour
To celebrate the relaunch and Kindle $0.99 / £0.99 promotion of Jason Greensides’s acclaimed literary coming-of-age debut, The Distant Sound of Violence, you can read the first seven chapters on seven different blogs over seven days. I’m proud to host Jason for day three of the tour, featuring chapter three.
Author: Jason Greensides
Title: The Distant Sound of Violence
Genre: Literary/Contemporary/Coming-of-age/mystery
Book Content Rating: Adult, based on language, violence, and sexual content
Synopsis:
Do we ever escape the decisions we make when we’re fifteen?
Nathan Dawes, the loser from school, an outsider, street philosopher and member of The Grove Runners gang, needs Ryan’s help to get Stephanie to fall for him. When Ryan’s lawnmower is stolen, Nathan sees this as his chance to enlist Ryan in his plan.
Although Ryan knows becoming friends with Nathan could lead to trouble, he reluctantly agrees to help.
Stephanie wants nothing to do with either of them. Besides, she’s more interested in the one guy in the world she really shouldn’t be.
As Nathan continues his pursuit of Stephanie, and Ryan gets mixed up with The Grove Runners, soon events overtake them all, haunting their lives for years to come.
This intelligent and compelling debut is a heart-breaking tale of bad decisions and love gone wrong. It’s about choices that lead to violence, loss and tragedy.
Excerpt
Chapter Three
The reason Nathan had sat back and watched as some random kid stole my aunt’s lawnmower was because of Stephanie Redding. He’d seen me around school, knew I was never without a girlfriend, and figured if he could get the lawnmower back for me then I would have felt obligated to speak to Stephanie on his behalf, put in a good word for him, somehow work my magic to get her to fall in love with him.
What Nathan didn’t realise was that I was starting to feel sorry for him and his need for a girlfriend, even if he had caused me problems with Karen, and at that point I would have helped him anyway. Perhaps if I’d told him this at the time, I might have been able to stop what happened next.
That same afternoon, he skipped detention and scampered out the back entrance, took the bus home and changed into a navy blue Nike tracksuit. There, he waited for it to become dark, before setting off towards the Harrow Road.
Ignoring the blaring horns of cars forced to slow down to let him pass, Nathan crossed the road at the point where he and Dwain had been arguing the previous evening, and disappeared into the gloom of the alleyway next to Lee’s Arcade.
He unlatched the gate, crept across the garden and peered into the darkness of the shed. He pulled out a torch and shone the light through the window. After a few seconds, in amongst the gardening equipment and mountain bikes, he spotted the lawnmower sitting behind a Suzuki FA50 moped.
He clicked the torch off, spun it around in his palm and used the handle to smash the window. Clearing away the shards of glass, he reached inside at full stretch, grasped the lawnmower’s handle and pulled it towards the window. He placed his elbows on the window frame for leverage and lifted the lawnmower up into a horizontal position. But the lawnmower was heavier than he’d anticipated, so, as he paused to gain a little more strength in his arms, the lawnmower fell into the moped, causing the bike to crash to the floor with a loud, nasty crack.
He spun around to make sure no one had heard the noise, rivulets of icy sweat breaking across his brow.
Finally, seeing no movement from the back of the house, he hauled the lawnmower through the window and lugged it out to the street.
*
By the time Nathan had dragged the lawnmower off the bus at Kensington Church Street and onto Campden Hill Road, the clouds had begun to disperse. He sat down in his usual place opposite Stephanie’s house. He’d been going there every other night since the beginning of term, hoping to catch a glimpse of Stephanie through the living room window, or perhaps as she took out the rubbish.
And now, if she’d come into the living room and peeked through the velvet curtains, she’d have seen a young man, half-hidden by rosebushes, staring up at the house with yearning and hope; this boy now cradling his head in the moonlight, hair ruffled by the midnight breeze, a lawnmower sitting by his side, so consumed by solitude he was willing to die for her. If she’d seen this then perhaps she’d have gone down to him in her pajamas and, at the very least, shooed him away in case her mum spotted him.
As it was, she slept soundly in the back bedroom, oblivious to the madness of love imploding in the heart of this reclusive boy from school.
*
Several days after my aunt had come hobbling into my bedroom, saying that she’d bore witness to the miracle of her lawnmower sitting outside the front door, I finally found the right opportunity to speak to Stephanie. I didn’t share any classes with her, while she usually spent her break with her friend Taylor Brown, so finding the right moment to approach her was a real pain.
Then, one morning as I apologised to Peter about missing football practice (again), I spotted her. She was sauntering along with her gaze fixed on the floor, wearing her purple, blue, and white shell suit top.
‘Hey, Stephanie,’ I said, telling Peter I’d see him later. He dropped away into the crowds of children.
Although I’d never spoken to her before, she didn’t even crack a polite smile. ‘Yes?’ she said, slowing down but not stopping.
‘Hi,’ I continued, undeterred, struggling to keep up with her in the throng of kids. ‘I was just wondering if you have a boyfriend?’
Traces of a smile played at her lips and her nose twitched, as if she were trying to ward off a sneeze.
‘Don’t worry,’ I added, ‘it’s not for me why I’m asking.’
‘OK…?’ she said, moving to one side, giving us a chance to talk without being knocked over by manic year-sevens.
I searched her eyes for some clue how to proceed. ‘A friend of mine has seen you around and thinks you’re gorgeous,’ I said at last.
‘Oh,’ she said, pursing her lips, the light going out of her eyes – not the response I was after. Did she know I was talking about Nathan?
‘Yes,’ I said, ‘Nathan Dawes.’
She checked her watch – a big, cumbersome pink thing with a picture of Dumbo on the face – then glanced over my shoulder.
‘You know,’ I stuttered, pressing on, ‘white boy, straight brown hair, graffiti-covered rucksack?’
‘The freak?’ she said. It was a harsh remark and she seemed to know it. She shuffled on her feet, rubbed her arm with a fist as if she were cold.
I smiled, trying to hide how gutted I was that Nathan’s dwindling chances with this girl were fast becoming non-existent.
‘Er yeah,’ I stammered, ‘I think that’s him, although “freak” is a little unfair. He’s just…’ Suddenly inspired, I thought I’d take a chance. ‘Have you read some German guy called Arthur Schopenhauer? I think I’m pronouncing that right.’
She blinked at me, swung her bag onto her shoulder and searched for an ebb in the river of children into which she could dive into. Clearly, trying to find a connection with Stephanie through a reference to a nineteenth century German philosopher hadn’t worked.
‘Look, I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I have a boyfriend.’
It was a lie, and we both knew all she meant was that she wasn’t interested in either Arthur Schopenhauer or Nathan Dawes. Once again, she searched the corridor for an escape route, her eyes brightening at finally spotting it: Taylor. ‘But it was nice to meet you…?’
‘Ryan.’
‘Ryan. Sorry, I’ve got to get to PE.’ And with that she loped off with Taylor.
I tried to think of one last thing to say before she was fully out of ear-shot, one last thing to make Nathan look good, knowing that I was unlikely to get another chance, but all I could come up with as I tried to catch up to her before Taylor and the tide of children carried her away, was, ‘Well, he thinks you’re great. Actually, he thinks you’re amazing.’ Then, shouting in desperation, the worst thing I could have said: ‘And he said he loves you!’
The Distant Sound of Violence is on sale $0.99 / £0.99 Kindle countdown deal from Tuesday 29th September to Sunday 4th October!
Amazon Book link: mybook.to/TDSOV
Jason Greensides Biography
Jason Greensides has a degree in Video Production and Film Studies and has made several short films, two of which have been broadcast on television – but writing fiction is his real passion.
He’s interested in ‘outsider’ types, people operating on the edge of society. This inspired him to write his first novel, The Distant Sound of Violence. It’s about a group of kids, one in particular, Nathan Dawes, whose philosophical obsessions and criminal connections have made him an outcast at school.
Jason is now working on his second novel, another coming-of-age mystery, but on coffee breaks he blogs and tweets about writing, and throws in the occasional book review.
Links:
Jason Greensides website: jasongreensides.com
Facebook: facebook.com/jasongreensidesauthor
Twitter: twitter.com/jasongreensides
Google Plus: plus.google.com/+JasonGreensides
Pinterest: pinterest.com/jasongreensides
Goodreads: goodreads.com/Jason_greensides
Amazon page: amazon.co.uk/Jason-Greensides
I am delighted to be revealing the absolutely stunning new cover for paranormal fantasy ‘The Elemental’ by Lisa Veldkamp. Just look at those gorgeous eyes!
Time is running out, and only the Elemental can save the world.
“My name is Catherine van Dyk. I run a private massage and coaching practice in Shoreditch, London—nothing special, you would say, and you would be right. Except something terrible is about to happen to our planet, and I’m the only one who can do something about it, so no pressure. Am I going to succeed? This time I might finally be able to control the elements. I have to. To save my life. To save all our lives.”
Catherine van Dyk is an Elemental, which means she can control earth, air, fire, and water—sort of. Catherine is trying to leave her darker days behind her, but she and her friends, who have similar abilities, must try to restore balance to our world. Whether her new neighbor Tristan can help her in that has yet to be seen. Is Tristan who he says he is? With disaster on its way and only one week to go, time is running out. For Catherine, for her friends, for all of us.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lisa is the author of the poetry collections Nothing is Forgotten and When Words Start to Sing, and The Elemental, part I of The Fire Trilogy. This is her first short story for teenagers, The Bridge Between Yesterday and Tomorrow. She has a background in social services and music, but writing has always been a part of her daily life. One night she dreamed the outlines of The Elemental and took it as a sign from the Universe to pursue a career in writing.
She grew up in a small town in the Netherlands where her parents always taught her to think outside the box. She has a degree in social studies and joined the Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids as an adult.
Lisa loves London—according to her, “the city where magic dwells”—and can often be found there. She still resides in the Netherlands, however, with her partner and their dog, Miss Ginger Rogers, and if you’re lucky, you may find her in her favourite coffeehouse, Barista cafe.
Lisa is also a freelance copywriter for CAPSLOC, a music venue in The Netherlands, and an editor for Folk Harp Folks, a magazine published by The Dutch Folk Harp society.
RELEASE DATE: HALLOWEEN, OCTOBER 31 2015
Dead or alive. Good or evil. Hero or fugitive.
Valo needs a specific solution to a grave problem. The human Claimfold and prigon Torzsi draw apart. War is promised in the West. Worst of all, the magi of Nagyevo are meddling with the dead.
Perin is an apprentice Gravedigger: uneducated, unwanted, unsure. He may be the answer Valo needs, if he doesn’t get killed before he works out what’s going on. But of course there’s the chance that fate hasn’t called him after all. The gods are nameless and silent and the best laid plans have a way of going badly wrong.
Enter the spade and sorcery world of Valo.
Today is the day of the official release party for one of the best creepy horror stories I have ever read. In Shadows Waiting had me jumping at every noise, but it isn’t just a mindless horror. It is a touching and fantastically well-written tale of love and loss too. So, here it is – the Booktrope re-release of In Shadows Waiting!
This is my favourite excerpt:
The creature’s triumphant laugh was something that would be with me until my dying day. And something I never wanted to hear again.
It was the strongest memory to stir as I looked at the photo whose colours had dimmed with age. Thirty-two years ago it was vibrant and full of life. Just like the faces staring back at me from the time before shadows. From the time before torment. From the time when we were happy.
It all reminded me of when the world was young and innocent—hell, when I was young and innocent. My two daughters both started sleeping with their boyfriends as soon as they turned sixteen, probably before then if the truth were told. If they had, it was something both they and my wife kept from me. But it was a different era when my sisters were that age. Helen and her Mark. Sarah and the succession of boyfriends she brought to our home, White Pastures.
I rarely smile now. Even after thirty-two years, the memories are painful. Fifty now. A half century. I was eighteen then. Yet in some ways it still seems like only yesterday.
Time plays tricks.
A tear rolls down my cheek.
Here is my review of In Shadows Waiting:
As an avid fan of Stewart Bint’s work I knew I was going to love his latest release, but I wasn’t prepared for how much it would suck me into the story! I read this book in mere days because the writing was so good I couldn’t put it down.
The book follows Simon, a young man barely out of college, and his family. They are an ordinary family with an ordinary life, until they begin to see flashes of movement and shadows passing the windows. Simon begins to feel a dark and mysterious presence in his house as an unwelcome presence manifests. The haunting begins as merely mischievous, but rapidly escalates into menacing, and eventually downright terrifying. This malicious spectre is no longer content to remain in shadows waiting…
I was dragged along by this book, desperate to read each page, and my mind worked furiously, trying to pull together the clues and threads that ran throughout. I love a good creepy horror story and this one had me jumping at every noise and shadow. A thoroughly enjoyable read and another triumph for Mr Bint’s literary career.
I am delighted to be hosting the fabulous Kelly Hall as part of her book tour for the release of ‘The Secret of Strange Waters’. Kelly is here today to talk about her top ten young adult paranormal books:
Hi I’m Kelly Hall, author of The Light Keeper Series. When I’m not writing I’m busy reading. I love going on a journey in the pages of someone else’s mind, and this is a list of my top ten favorite YA paranormal book series and why I love them!
On top of that, take a look at these gorgeous character profiles from ‘The Secret of Strange Waters’. (I LOVE Talon!)
One of my favourite authors, the fantastic Stewart Bint, will be releasing his new horror novel very soon. Here it is, the brand new cover for ‘In Shadows Waiting’:
Young Simon Reynolds lives a bucolic life at his family home, White Pastures, surrounded by a loving family and a charming community. Simon finishes his A levels and looks forward to unwinding while his sisters work on their tans.
Meanwhile the tiny community of Meriton has been plagued by a spate of burglaries, and White Pastures seems to be next. A shadowy figure stalks the house, but the police can find no signs of an intruder.
Inspired by the author’s real-life experience with the supernatural, In Shadows Waiting recounts a summer that changes the Reynolds’ lives forever. As the summer progresses, the shadows take on an altogether more sinister implication, and White Pastures begins to reveal a terrifying secret.
The epicenter of an event that has scarred an entire community, White Pastures grows more and more dark, possessed by a shadow that yearns, a shadow that will not be denied. At White Pastures, someone will die – but love never will.
Here is my review of this outstanding book:
Immersive fantasy fiction 