Steel Rose ~ Promo Blitz & Giveaway

Horror/Sci Fi

Date Published: February 1, 2013

Blurb

The denizens of hell attack. The zombies feed. She’s their meal.

Sometimes they come back. At least the Kryszka aliens do. Their leader injects captured humans with a drug, turning them into zombies. Yeron escapes the Kryszka Colony, hoping to practice medicine on the humans who fear him. Alexis—a patient—is afraid too, until his seductive attentions arouse her. Despite his experimental drug, severe arthritis leaves her too weak to handle most guns. The Kryszka troops and zombies who break into the hospital are hungry. Very hungry. How will she fight them?

Purchase Links

Amazon * B&N * Eternal Press * Website

EXCERPT

Shattering glass. Plodding footsteps. IV poles crashed to the floor. Glass shards tinkled, punctuated by low-pitched groaning from the rear elevator, the exit Hoffman had claimed to seal.

“Dear God, help us.” Alexis reached for her gun.

“What are you doing? Guns are forbidden on this floor, and…Oh, my God!” Ms. Grese cupped her hands over her mouth. Her authoritarian demeanor vanished, replaced by horror-stricken pallor. “Where are the officers?”

“You think our visitors give a shit?” Alexis scuttled toward the door, feeling vulnerable. The vest didn’t protect her face or hands, but the intruders wouldn’t care about that either. She shoved Ms. Grese ahead of her, pushing with her mind, Yeron beside her. “Run!” she hollered.

As the creatures poured through the ward, a stench crawled down her throat, the stink of things many days dead. Moaning drowned out the sound of Ms. Grese’s cries, a continual chant of “hungry.”

Skeletal figures in tattered rags skirted around Mark, who fired at any who got too close. Their tendons flashed gray against cold cobwebs of rib and knuckle. The flesh that quivered through widened skin tears had the sheen of rotting meat. The skin resembled cracked leather. Weeds sprouted on some of the figures’ necks and hair, the way they did in her nightmares. They made their way to the desk, where two nurses sat. The two women jumped up, both screaming. One of them opened fire with a Glock.

The armed woman was her mother.

Giveaway Time!!!

$10 Starbucks Gift Card

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author ~ Barbara Custer

Barbara lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she works full time as a respiratory therapist. When she’s not working with her patients, she’s enjoying a fright flick or working on horror and science fiction tales. Her short stories have appeared in numerous small press magazines. She’s published Night to Dawn magazine since 2004.

Other books by Barbara include Twilight Healer, City of Brotherly Death, and Close Liaisons. She’s also coauthored Alien Worlds and Starship Invasions (both now out of print) with Tom Johnson. She enjoys bringing her medical background to the printed page, and then blending it with supernatural horror. She maintains a presence on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, and The Writers Coffeehouse forum. Look for the photos with the Mylar balloons and you’ll find her.

Website: http://www.bloodredshadow.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/barbara.custer
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NighttoDawn1
Blog: http://www.barbara-custer.livejournal.com

Happy Reading,

Alison

Ruby Hill Tour & Giveaway

Title: Ruby Hill
Author: Sarah Ballance
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Paranormal Romance
Categories: Horror, Mystery/Thriller, Ghost Story
Erotic Elements: NONE
Publisher: Entangled Ever After
Heat Level: Sensual
Word Count/Length: Approx 12,000 words

Amazon * B&N * Kobo

Blurb

Corbin Malone said goodbye to everything good when his brother Cash died, including the love of his life, Ashley Pearce…until his captain assigns him to babysit a group of ghost hunters at Ruby Hill Lunatic Asylum. They’re set on disproving a supernatural cause for a cluster of strange deaths, and Ashley is leading the investigation. He doesn’t need the hassle, but he won’t let anyone else protect her, regardless of the threat.

Ashley didn’t know her ex-boyfriend, the man who blames her for his brother’s death, would head the police detail guarding the abandoned asylum. But her long family history with Ruby Hill calls to her, and even he won’t convince her to back down. Until something darker stirs in the shadows of the asylum—something so evil, she’s not sure she and Corbin will survive the night.

Excerpt

Lunatics. Ghosts. Murder.

The media grabbed the story like rabid dogs, shredding and tearing the meat of the so-called facts until nothing was left but gristle and hyped-up gore. Rumors took flight. Poltergeists, demons, a portal to hell, and all because torture had to leave a mark. Ruby Hill certainly had.

So had Corbin Malone.

From the drive, Corbin twisted his head her way. The moment his eyes met hers left a scar on her heart.

Either he hid his emotion well or he lacked any. Not a flicker of reaction crossed his face. He simply turned to watch the car retreat through the gate, a security guard stepping over to shut and lock the leggy ten-foot barrier as soon as the vehicle’s rear bumper cleared.

Then, in a move so painstakingly slow it had to be deliberate, Corbin found her again. Blue eyes pierced her with such force she took a step backward. As she stumbled, the slowest of smiles crept across his face.

But he was not the threat.

She heard the asylum’s whispers. This was personal.

She hugged herself tightly.

Yer gonna die.

Giveaway Time!!!

Win a $10 Amazon or B&N GC!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author ~ Sarah Ballance

Sarah and her husband of what he calls “many long, long years” live on the mid-Atlantic coast with their six young children, all of whom are perfectly adorable when they’re asleep. She never dreamed of becoming an author, but as a homeschooling mom, she often jokes she writes fiction because if she wants anyone to listen to her, she has to make them up. (As it turns out, her characters aren’t much better than the kids). Though she adores romantic suspense, she writes in many genres. Her ever-growing roster of releases may be found at http://sarahballance.com.

~Contact Links

Website: http://www.sarahballance.com/
Blog: http://sarahballance.wordpress.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sarah.ballance.author.news
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SarahBallance
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4103362.Sarah_Ballance

Happy Reading,

Alison

Spotlight ~ The Reaper Series

Atkinson’s Administration

(The Reaper Series #1)

By John Paul Bernett

Blurb

The reaper has walked among us ever since time began. Our meaning of time is different; three score years and ten give or take the over or under run of sand in the reapers time piece. That is what the ancient philosophers would have us believe. But now the bells are chiming us into the 21st century and there is a problem. The real reaper system has had a spanner thrown into its works; the repercussions of this could and will end the world as we know it. Can mortals battle with ancient Gods or is this the apocalypse that revelations predicted. Have you ever wondered what that feeling is when you are falling in your sleep and you wake just before you hit the ground? Well, that is me twanging the cord that one day I will cut in my realm and you will die in yours. Atkinson

Goodreads * Amazon US Kindle * Amazon US Paperback * Amazon UK Kindle * Amazon UK Paperback

———————————————————–

Atkinson’s Armageddon

(The Reaper Series #2)

By John Paul Bernett

Blurb

The End of All Things is upon the world; the world’s population has no idea. The Reaper system is again running, with a new Reaper. Things have returned to some sort of normality at the police station, the mortuary, and the newspaper buildings. A young girl has found she is more than she thought she was. All seems fine as the rebuilding of the fallen city is well under way, and Atkinson is without doubt dead, his body split into seven pieces and hidden in separate places, separate realms and on different planes of existence.

As the anniversary of the cataclysmic event that occurred the previous year approaches an Ancient Prophecy is revealed, and a quest begins as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse mount their steeds once more.

This time its personal… as the human race truly come face to face with Armageddon.

Goodreads * Amazon US Kindle * Amazon UK Kindle

Author Links

Facebook * Twitter

Happy Reading,

Alison

“Phase One: Identify (Territory of the Dead #1)” Promo Blast & Giveaway

Phase One: Identify (Territory of the Dead #1)
by Rose Wynters
YA Fantasy Romance
Categories: Horror, Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopian, Zombies
Publisher: Self/Indie
Release Date: May 6, 2013
Heat Level: Sweet
Word Count: 22,238

Available at: Amazon * ARe * B&N * Smashwords

Synopsis

From author Rose Wynters comes Book 1 in a new zombie-horror, fantasy fiction series set in Pleasant, Louisiana. Can this checkout girl survive the night when her town experiences a zombie apocalypse?

Tabitha Alexander is just your everyday, small-town checkout girl. At 18, she’s just graduated from high school, and her long-term goals don’t extend beyond enjoying her freedom and finding a boyfriend.

Her whole life was spread out in front of her…Until the first body slams into the glass, desperate to feed on the living standing underneath the bright lights.

That night Tabitha learns how horrifying it really is when the dead come back to life.

Barely escaping with her life, she manages to make it home but is forced to watch as lives are brutally ended when zombies take over. They are supernaturally strong, unlike the zombies portrayed by films. Nobody knows if they will live to see the dawn of a new day.

By the time the night is done, her neighbor and the man she has a crush on has joined them, as well as her best friend and her father. A new group of unlikely survivors emerges from the death and carnage that surround them, saved by an attractive, mysterious man with unknown motives.

This book tells you how the zombie nightmare begins…Pleasant will never be the same again.

Recommended for adults and young adults 16 years of age and older.

Excerpt

A woman moved in front of the camera, pushing the reporter out of the way with her body, before grabbing the microphone from his slack grip. Her face was pale, but her dark eyes were filled with determination as she stared into the lens. She got right to the point.

“Don’t let this reporter sugarcoat this with his evasions. There are dead people walking out there, and they are fast, deadly, and supernaturally strong. There is a name for them, one we’ve heard before but thought was only fiction. These dead people are zombies, and they don’t care about nothing but getting their teeth into your flesh.”

The reporter tried to grab the microphone back, but she shot him a deadly look. “You’re not getting this till I’m done,” she told him in a firm voice. “I’m not gonna stand by while you get your five seconds of fame and leave these innocent people out there to die. People deserve to know what they are up against, and how to protect themselves. Now back off.” Surprisingly, he stood still and listened.

She turned back to the camera. “I know there are some of you out there that don’t believe in this. You wanna box it all up, neat and tidy-like, and believe that there must be some rational explanation for this, and come morning it will all be gone. If you believe that though, you’re going to find yourself dead before the sun ever hits the sky tomorrow.”

About the Author

When not writing, I enjoy traveling, meeting new people, and having fun! I love plotting what my characters will do next, and thinking up exciting, dangerous, and edgy books. I’ve been told I have a wicked sense of humor and often this can be seen in my writing.

I have a ton of likes, most especially books, gorgeous men, The Walking Dead, and True Blood. I interact quite a bit on my website, offering unique giveaways and having fun meeting readers. Feel free to drop by and post a comment!

Connect with Rose Wynters
Website – http://www.rosewynters.com/
Twitter – https://www.twitter.com/author_rose
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Rose-Wynters/121652694703696
Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7033186.Rose_Wynters

Giveaway Time!!!

Prize is 2 eBook copies (1 each to 2 winners) of “Phase One: Identify (Territory of the Dead #1)”. Contest is open internationally and ends August 7. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Reading,

Alison

Softly and Tenderly Book Tour, Guest Post & Giveaway

Author: Lisa Binion

Publisher: Silver Tongue Press

Publication Date: February 2013

Genre: Horror/ Novella

Purchase Link: Amazon

Guest Post by Lisa Binion

Something I’m Never Asked
People ask me all kinds of things in interviews. They are curious about how I got the idea for the story. They want to know why I choose to write horror stories. Or they want to know if my story was based on something that really happened.

No one ever asked me why I am so interested in what happens to the body after death. When I first started writing Softly and Tenderly, I had no clue I was going to have to research death. I knew I would have to look into funeral homes and stuff like that, but death? When the story opens, Lori’s mom had died and the paramedics carry her down the stairs on a stretcher. She is covered from head to toe with a sheet. Lori needed to see something during that time that would give an air of creepiness to the story, something that no one else would take any notice of. But I didn’t want it to seem too farfetched either, so I started looking at what happens to the body once it dies.

The bugs that are attracted to the body once it begins to decompose are what caught my attention. The beetles won out over the flies. I just don’t find flies that scary, and I’ve never had any creepy experiences with them. Beetles are a different story though. A beetle got caught in my hair when I was a little girl, and my stepmother had trouble finding it. She thought I was imagining things, but I could feel its sharp, pokey legs crawling around on my head. She did finally find it and untangle it from my hair. That was a creepy experience.

The addition of beetles to the story has given me ideas that will turn my novella into just the beginning of a much longer novel. My research on what happens to the body after death continues and now includes cremation. The things I have discovered will be so useful for the rest of the book. I’m not the fastest writer in the world, but the rest of the story is on its way.

Now I will tell you why I wrote Softly and Tenderly. I lost my mom when I was only eight years old. That was a traumatic time in my life. People thought I handled her death so well, but they couldn’t see what was going on inside me. I didn’t handle it nearly as well as they thought. She died in December of 1974, right after Christmas. Even now in 2013, it is hard for me to think about that time. Rebecca, a good friend of mine, said something to me one day that sparked the idea for the story, and I knew I had to write it. Writing became my therapy. Getting the words typed in my computer as I relived the morning of her death helped heal wounds that I had been carrying around since I was a little girl. Writing turned out to be an amazing form of therapy for me.

Synopsis

“Mom died in her sleep last night.” Those are terrifying words for a child to wake up to. The beetle that falls off the stretcher and stares at her is only the beginning one of the strangest and most frightening times in Lori’s life. Death is not a pretty thing, especially not when the funeral is to be at the Lights Out Chapel and Crematorium.

Once she walks into the funeral parlor, she experiences things that no little girl should ever have to experience. No one is acting normal. No one can see what is going on. Is Lori the only one who sees the blood oozing from the pictures of Jesus on the cross? Doesn’t anyone else see the beetles? Is Lori hallucinating when she sees her mom sit up and hears her speak? There is absolutely nothing soft and tender about what happens to Lori.

From her overly morbid piano teacher to the creepy preacher and a father that just isn’t acting like himself, Lori is surrounded by people and things that hint of something bizarre. Once she leaves the Lights Out Chapel and Crematorium, things will go back to normal. Or will they?

Excerpt

I’ll never forget that morning as long as I live. Never. Daddy crying for help as he ran down the stairs is what woke me out of a deep sleep. “Call an ambulance! Kathie id dead!” I heard him screaming.

Mommy? Dead? But I kissed her goodnight last night. She smiled at me and told me how much she loved me. The she told me to come up after breakfast, and we would work a puzzle together. She would never leave, not after making a play date with me. She never lied.

I can’t remember exactly why, but Granny was living with us at that time. Maybe it was because Mommy was sick. Anyway, I had been sleeping downstairs with her instead of upstairs in my bedroom, which was right across from Mommy’s room.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and walked out the bedroom door into the kitchen to see what was going on. There was so much noise, so much commotion that I didn’t understand what was happening. Maybe I had heard wrong.

But as soon as I walked into the living room, one of my brothers grabbed hold of me. “Lori, stay here.”

“But I want to see what’s going on! I heard Daddy say that Mommy’s dead! I want to go see her. He’s wrong!” I pushed Matt away from me as hard as I could, but he held me tight.

“No, Lori. He’s no wrong. Mom died in her sleep last night.” As I stared into his reddened eyes, he said, “You don’t need to see her.”

“I don’t believe you! She promised to do a puzzle with me today, right after breakfast! She wouldn’t lie to me! She can’t be dead!”

Then I heard the sirens. These men, wearing blue jackets and carrying a stretcher, knocked on the front door of our house. Daddy directed them up the stairs. Almost as soon as they went up. they came back down, but this time there was something on the stretcher. Whatever it was had a white sheet covering it so completely that I couldn’t see what was under it. But the sheet was moving. What it covered appeared to be struggling to get up! I ran toward the stretcher, so I could help and yank the sheet back, but once again my brother stopped me. This time he picked me up.

As I turned and watched the men carrying the stretcher away, this beetle fell off the sheet onto the floor. One just like it had gotten caught in my hair last summer. Mommy patiently made me sit still as she removed it.

“It will be alright, sweetie. We’ll take care of you,” Matt whispered in my ear. I wrapped my arms around his neck. I heard what he said, but my eyes were on the beetle that had stared back at me. It walked across the carpet, stopped, and looked at me before it turned to go up the stairs. It seemed to be trying to talk to me.

Praise

“Although Softly and Tenderly is a short read it gives enough information to know and understand what Lori is going through. But it does leave you at the end wondering if Lori was only imagining things or were they real? I would really love to see more of Lori story. I did enjoy Lori’s story very much indeed but I would like to know if Lori was just imagining things or if maybe she has some kind of paranormal ability.” – Nancy on Goodreads

“When most children are asked, “What are your biggest fears?” They will respond with a list that includes losing a parent. For Lori, that fear has come true. Not only has she lost her precious mother, she has entered a frightening world no one else can see. Is she hallucinating what she experiences at the Lights Out Funeral Chapel and Crematorium, or is she suffering from intense grief? Walk with Lori as she sees and feels the horrors she must face alone. Why is everyone else ignoring them? You might need the lights on for this one, but don’t let that stop you from grabbing it. It is a great read. I loved it and am hoping the author has more she will be publishing.” – Marianne on Amazon

About the Author

Lisa Binion is a writer, editor, and wife. She makes her home in the beautiful state of Kentucky. Her two children are now grown, but she has been blessed with two beautiful grandchildren, Tyler and Zoey. Her family also includes four dogs, four cats, and two goats.

As the Fiction Writing Editor for BellaOnline, she writes articles, reviews fiction books, and interviews fiction authors. She is also an editor for Silver Tongue Press and Edit 1st. In her spare time, she attempts to clean house and relax.
You can find her at https://www.facebook.com/pages/BellaOnline-Fiction-Writing/125143070846792,
http://www.silvertonguepress.com/, and http://edit1st.com/.

Giveaway Time!!!

Winner will receive a mystery gift!
Ends 6/30/13
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much to Lisa for the guest post!! It was both interesting and touching!!

Happy Reading,

Alison