Portals ~ Book 2 of The Thulukan Chronicles ~ RAFFLECOPTER!! #YA #Fantasy #ASMSG @MaerWilson

LAUNCH & RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY 

PORTALS 

(Book 2 of The Thulukan Chronicles)

by Maer Wilson

An Urban Fantasy Novel

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Blurb:

For supernatural detectives Thulu and La Fi, “normal” is a relative term. La Fi is a medium, Thulu is a finder, and their usual clients are already dead.

But when their friend Reo is shot, and a group of stranded angels show up at their house for help to find a missing child, things are striking too close to home.

And now the portals that let the magical races return to Earth have started opening on their own.

With trips off-world, a kidnapped psychic and changes to their own abilities, Thulu and La Fi are hit with a lot more than they usually handle. Of course, their magical friends are there to help, but even they may not be enough to save an increasingly unstable Earth. 

Portals is the sequel to Relics and is Book 2 in The Thulukan Chronicles.

Find Portals on AMAZON

Excerpt:

That night Parker had popped in to wake us at two in the morning to tell us our best friend, Reo, had been shot. The young ghost was distraught and panicked.

“They're on the back porch! You have to go help.”

“Where is he?” I asked groggily, as I jumped out of bed. 

Thulu was instantly awake beside me, although he didn’t seem any more alert than I did.

“Back porch.” Parker enunciated each word in slight exasperation. “Go, please!”

Thulu looked at me, and I told him what Parker had said. Thulu can read lips, but even with a night light the room was too dark. 

Thulu threw off the sheet and we both ran from the room. I was briefly glad we’d been wearing PJs.

Heart pounding, I took a few precious seconds to check on our three year old son, Carter. His night light showed him blissfully unaware of anything. Whatever happy dreams he was having made him smile slightly in his sleep. I sighed in relief that he wasn’t having another of his nightmares.

Downstairs, Thulu had turned on the kitchen and porch lights. In spite of the panic moments before, none of the three people on the porch seemed frantic when I joined them. 

Thulu looked relieved, Reo was on the floor, but seemed stoic, and Sloane knelt beside him, brow furrowed only slightly in concentration as he dealt with the wound. 

My heart rate slowed down and my own fear started to slowly dissipate. My heart gradually dropped from my throat back to its accustomed place in my chest. Still my hands were shaking, and I felt the slight chill from outside. The porch was screened in, and the late August day had been hot, but the night brought a cool breeze that made its way along my arms. 

The scent of flowers from the backyard didn’t quite mask the smell of the blood that pooled on the porch floor around Reo. Sloane, his partner and an elf, had already removed Reo’s jacket and shirt. A bullet lay on the floor, and I could see the shoulder wound was already healing and closing up. In a few moments, only the blood would remain as evidence that he’d been shot. 

Reo's face was white. The strain showed around his brown eyes and his handsome face had the sheen of sweat on it.  His short brown hair that was usually spiked, lay damp and flat against his head, but he gave me a shaky smile.

“Bastard ruined my favorite jacket.”

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Maer’s Bio:

After a successful career being other people, and later teaching others the many tricks of that trade, Maer Wilson has decided to be herself for a while. Turns out she's a writer. She's always loved stories, especially fantasy, mystery and sci fi. Maer was born in the Year of the Dragon and has a dragon-themed room in her home, but sadly no dragons in the back yard. When she's not writing, Maer plays online video games, teaches college and reads. She also co-hosts the literary podcast, MythBehaving and writes for two gaming fansites. Maer lives in the high desert of Southern Nevada with her two dogs, a chihuahua and a poodle. Portals is Book 2 in The Thulukan Chronicles. You can find all books and novelettes in The Thulukan Chronicles at Amazon. You can visit Maer’s website at http://maerwilson.com/.

Maer’s Links:

Maer’s Website: http://maerwilson.com/

Maer on Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Maer-Wilson/e/B00CDX29YW/

Maer on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maer-Wilson-Author/149085628472833

Maer on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/MaerWilson

Maer at Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7040319.Maer_Wilson

Maer at Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/maerw/boards/

Relics at Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17767013-relics

Relics Paperback at Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Relics-Maer-Wilson/dp/1939173310/

Relics Kindle at Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Relics-ebook/dp/B00CLB6HUI/

Portals - http://www.amazon.com/Portals-Book-Thulukan-Chronicles-Volume/dp/1494209039/

“Ghost Memory” (A Thulukan Chronicles Story, #1) - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E5W1W2Y/

“Unwanted Ghost” (A Thulukan Chronicles Story, #2) - http://www.amazon.com/Unwanted-Ghost-Thulukan-Chronicles-Story-ebook/dp/B00FYACAZO/

Haven of Dante: A tour of the Nine Circles of Hell #YA #Fantasy #Paranormal #Nov #ASMSG

It’s a fall evening and the sun whispers goodbye as it gently descends over the horizon. But the day has been too short for you so you decide to go for a walk with nature. But then you realize that you’ve wandered far from home. . . . very far. So far that you’ve come across a dark forest and you ask yourself if you really want to go in there. Despite the fading of sunlight your curiosity gets the best of you. After all, you’re not far from the gravel road, right? You go in and hear the crunch of leaves beneath your feet. The chill in the air caresses the back of your neck and begs to turn back. Suddenly, you notice an old wooden sign that is nailed to a tree.

ABANDON ALL HOPE,

YOU WHO ENTER HERE 

You’ve heard stories of this place before. It’s not where you want to be. You try to move your feet but you can’t. You start to shake and break into a cold sweat when all of a sudden...

...you wake up.

It was all a dream. It’s not real.

But what if it was? How would you escape the nine circles of hell?

This is the premise (at least, in part) for the new novel by author, Leonardo Ramirez titled, Haven of Dante: The Staff of Moshe. In the work, the nine circles have become incensed at the audacity of Alighieri’s emergence from their realm and after a lengthy war they’ve come together to inflict pain on mankind. Calling themselves “The Aristocracy” they are responsible for every evil that has plagued man.

Here’s the synopsis: 

Haven Irena Dante, seventeen, struggles with a dysfunctional family.  Her workaholic father is never there, but his absence is filled by a loving mother harboring the secret and mysterious past of their family.  The Dantes are inheritors of a centuries old legacy stretching back to Dante Alighieri himself.  They fight to contain the nine circles of hell described in the classic literature "Dante's Inferno."

Today, the nine circles have infiltrated the world at every level, operating as a secret society known as "The Aristocracy."  The only thing stopping The Aristocracy from world domination is the Dante family line.

Now its Haven's turn to carry that torch.

Combining literary fiction with fantasy, this action-packed young adult adventure races through dimensions of paranormal, science fiction and the supernatural. 

Why did you write this book? 

I wondered what someone would do if they were at the point of death and they were given the choice to remain in a suffering world where all they had experienced was heartache and pain or go into paradise. The catch would be to return to this world knowing that there was a chance they could fix their relationship with a loved one. This is where the idea stemmed from and led into the inclusion of Dante Alighieri’s cantos which represent the ills of mankind and our struggle to overcome them. Our protagonist needed to have more than enough reason not to return so we also included a violation. This was not done gratuitously. My wife had suffered the same experience and today she is alive and well. I wanted others to have gone through this horror to have the same chance and be an encouragement to them. Aside from this I wanted to delve into some of the things that we fear the most fully knowing that there is always a reason (more specifically, a hurt) behind them. I think that sometimes we allow a hurt to become a fear and then the fear becomes a part of us. Some could argue that it makes us human and I would not disagree. But at the same time we reach a point of decision when we are exposed to the meaning behind the fear or the hurt. And that can manifest itself in any of the areas explored in the nine circles.

To keep it interesting, I’ve given the leader of each circle a character who in turn, become hybrids.

In the interest of keeping the spoilers to an absolute minimum, I’ve deleted some of the biographies of the hybrids.

Circle One – Those in limbo led by Lord Limbus. This demon transports humans into the nine circles. According to the code of the Aristocracy, no human can be transported out of the realm of the nine circles except of their own volition.

Circle Two – The lustful led by Lord Hedonis.

Circle Three – The gluttonous led by Lord Voratum. This is a gluttonous demon that possesses Chuck Flegman, an outcast in Haven’s high school.

Circle Four – The hoarders led by Lord Hordran.

Circle Five – The wrathful led by Lord Vengus.

Circle Six – The heretics led by Lord Retic.

Circle Seven – The violent led by Lord Ravage. This demon is a mindless savage beast bent on the destruction of the Dante family line and all human life. The more he kills the stronger he gets.

Circle Eight – The sorcerers led by Lord Lock.

Circle Nine – The traitors led by Lord Traiton.

What are you working on at the minute?

Right now I’m writing the 2^nd book in a Children’s Steampunk series titled, The Jupiter Chronicles: The Ice Orphan of Ganymede. It’s geared towards struggling readers in the 2^nd grade and on up. 

What’s it about? 

The series focuses on two kids (Ian and Callie Castillo) who have just discovered their missing father had been the ruler of the steam-powered world of Jupiter. It also explains how steam technology arrived on Earth and forever changed our world. 

What is the one message that you want readers to hear coming from this book? 

The one resounding message that I want folks to (hopefully) get is that no matter how bad the cards that have been dealt to you are, you can still make good choices. You might stumble along the way. You might fall. You might be angry and hate for a little while. But after you’ve allowed yourself to experience those feelings you can still make constructive choices for your life. The road to heaven sometimes goes right through hell.

There is a violation on the main character that occurs in the story but this is not done gratuitously.  My hope is that the book will be an entertaining source of encouragement in its message that you can make some good choices despite the cards that have been dealt to you. 

So with all of that said, how would you escape the nine circles?

Author Bio

Leonardo Ramirez is a husband, a father, a Karate instructor with a 3rd degree black belt, and a writer. His first graphic novel, Haven, is a supernatural Young Adult story centered on an ancient war between the Dante family and the nine circles of hell. His follow up is a self-published children’s Steampunk book called The Jupiter Chronicles: The Secret of the Great Red Spot. It follows the adventure of two children as they are transported to the steam-powered cities of Jupiter, find their long-lost father, stop an attack from Mars, and witness the birth of Steampunk.

“My heart and motive have always been for people who are hurting. These can be kids who have had to suffer through child abuse or neglect or an absent parent which can be equally torturous as was the case in The Jupiter Chronicles. It can also be young girls who have suffered an assault like Haven did in Haven of Dante. Young or old it doesn’t matter. Those are the kids and adults I want to speak to because I’ve been there.”

It’s not just Science Fiction.

It’s Science Fiction for the Human Condition.

Social Media Links

Website: http://twitter.com/leonardoverse

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/leonardoverse

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/leonardoverse

Goodreads: http://goodreads.com/leonardoverse

Where we can find your books

Jupiter Chronicles: HERE

Haven of Dante: HERE

OCTOBER = PARANORMAL = $.99 Sale ~ THE SHEPHERD #YA #Paranormal #Horror #Thriller #Oct #ASMSG

★OFFICIAL RELEASE PROMO★

OCT. 12 - 19 $.99

THE SHEPHERD

by T W Luedke (Travis Luedke)

The Mustread YA Paranormal Thriller of 2013

Add The Shepherd to your Goodreads TBR: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6517376.Travis_Luedke

Skate punks, kleptomaniacs, clairvoyant visions and reincarnation...

...THE SHEPHERD is unlike any other Young Adult novel you have ever read. 

 

Mike Evans here. Sixteen year old skate punk squatting in a white-trash trailer park with my loser drunk Dad. Seems I lost most of my friends when Dad lost our home in foreclosure. Only Anita stuck by me. Worse, I keep having strange clairvoyant visions of things that always come true.  

 

Then I almost ran over Nadia in my Geo. A passing truck finished the job – left a crumpled heap of skin and bone on the road. I fixed her. Me.  

 

Now this fourteen year old girl won’t leave me alone. I sorta let her sneak in my window when she needs a place to crash.  

 

I have a double life: daytime at school, Anita, skating, and then my nights with Nadia. She's my secret friend, gives me money and listens to my problems when nobody else will.  

 

My world is spinning out of control. Old friends have turned enemy, my grisly visions of death won’t quit, and Anita’s intentions make my head spin. Even with all that, I’ve got bigger stuff to worry about.  

 

Nadia’s hiding something. 

˃˃˃ "I could not put this book down. All I keep thinking about is what could possibly happen next. I felt as if I was back in high school with them!"

 

˃˃˃ "It's almost a love triangle of epic proportions or so you think....Travis blew me away with this book, I never saw what was coming."

 

˃˃˃ "Amazing, I loved Mike and Anita. The characters that I didn't feel could redeem themselves did in ways I never thought possible. I loved the ending and so not what I thought would happen. I love the element of surprise."

 

Sharp, witty, dark and gritty, The Shepherd is the must read YA paranormal thriller of 2013. Get your copy now!

 

 Amazon US

Amazon UK

#Mustread #YA #NewRelease #Paranormal #Thriller THE SHEPHERD by Travis Luedke #OCT #ASMSG

THE SHEPHERD

by T W Luedke (Travis Luedke)

The Mustread YA Paranormal Thriller of 2013

Add The Shepherd to your Goodreads TBR: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6517376.Travis_Luedke

Skate punks, kleptomaniacs, clairvoyant visions and reincarnation...

...THE SHEPHERD is unlike any other Young Adult novel you have ever read. 

 

Mike Evans here. Sixteen year old skate punk squatting in a white-trash trailer park with my loser drunk Dad. Seems I lost most of my friends when Dad lost our home in foreclosure. Only Anita stuck by me. Worse, I keep having strange clairvoyant visions of things that always come true.  

 

Then I almost ran over Nadia in my Geo. A passing truck finished the job – left a crumpled heap of skin and bone on the road. I fixed her. Me.  

 

Now this fourteen year old girl won’t leave me alone. I sorta let her sneak in my window when she needs a place to crash.  

 

I have a double life: daytime at school, Anita, skating, and then my nights with Nadia. She's my secret friend, gives me money and listens to my problems when nobody else will.  

 

My world is spinning out of control. Old friends have turned enemy, my grisly visions of death won’t quit, and Anita’s intentions make my head spin. Even with all that, I’ve got bigger stuff to worry about.  

 

Nadia’s hiding something. 

˃˃˃ "I could not put this book down. All I keep thinking about is what could possibly happen next. I felt as if I was back in high school with them!"

 

˃˃˃ "It's almost a love triangle of epic proportions or so you think....Travis blew me away with this book, I never saw what was coming."

 

˃˃˃ "Amazing, I loved Mike and Anita. The characters that I didn't feel could redeem themselves did in ways I never thought possible. I loved the ending and so not what I thought would happen. I love the element of surprise."

 

Sharp, witty, dark and gritty, The Shepherd is the must read YA paranormal thriller of 2013. Get your copy now!

 

 Amazon US

Amazon UK

#CoverReveal THE SHEPHERD by Travis Luedke #YA #Paranormal #Thriller #ComingSoon #SEP #ASMSG

And here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for, the final cover art for THE SHEPHERD, my new YA paranormal thriller novel.

Publication Date: Sunday, September 29th, 2013

Add it to your TBR: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18520651-the-shepherd

Genre:  Young Adult (15+) Paranormal Thriller

Skate punks, kleptomaniacs, clairvoyant visions and reincarnation.

16 year old skater Mike Evans has issues. His alcoholic father's unemployed and he's stuck living in a white-trash trailer park after the foreclosure of their family home. The last two years have sucked royally, and to top it all off, he's plagued by clairvoyant visions of strange-grisly events that always come true. Mike loses his best friend, ex-girlfriend treats him like a leper, and his only friend Anita wants to get in his pants––he's clueless. Since his mother died at birth and his father doesn't give a damn, Mike's on his own.

His fortunes begin to change after helping a 14 year old girl named Nadia, the victim of a hit and run on the highway. An intimate bond is forged through an intense night of ministering to her injuries. He suspects Nadia is homeless and an unusual relationship develops as she sneaks into his room nightly for a place to stay.

Mike lives a double life, daylight hours at school, new girlfriend, skating, part-time job, and then his nights spent with Nadia. She's a secret friend, giving him money, listening to his problems when no one else will.

Strangeness abounds as they develop a mutual obsession. Nadia is not an average little girl, but Mike ignores the obvious signs of danger.

Struggling to avert another vision of gruesome death, he must face the evidence that his secret friend is much more than she seems.

Zara's Curse By Andrew Domonkos: SOCK PUPPET MADNESS #Goodreads #Fraud #ASMSG

Please don't feed the sock puppets - they multiply like gremlins

This blog post has a deceptive title, 

because there's really only one face of Andrew Domonkos:

But if you don't like that face, thats Okay, 

Andrew has 153 faces on Goodreads! 

11 pages of SOCK PUPPET WONDER!!

And how do I know?  

Because, Andrew published his novel 3 days ago on Amazon:

He has ZERO reviews/ratings on Amazon, 

but Andrew's 153 faces on Goodreads have been very busy:

161 ratings!! (153 of his own--the rest are from disgruntled Authors who have been attacked by Andrew)

And he has 153 votes on Listopia, 

holding the #1 position on Best Vampire Books from "New" Authors!!

Andy is a very resourceful man with his 153 Goodreads profiles,

 not only is he voting for his own book,

 beating all the competition the American way,

 he is also giving out shit-tons of 1 star ratings!! 

But not for his own book, Oh no! 

Those sock puppets are working overtime for Andrew!!

Poor Andrew denies having anything to do with his 153 faces. 

But ooops! He made his denial with two different sock puppet profiles named Domonkos and Andrew Domonkos! 

Oh my!! But its an easy mistake to make when you have 153 profiles to manage....

So come on down to Goodreads, join up, create a few dozen profiles, 

and lets start rating some books!  

Yeah, lets party like Andrew Domonkos, with overnight sock puppet success!!

**This blog post is satire for the purpose of drawing attention to the sock puppet and troll ratings attacks running unchecked on Goodreads.  

My own novels are victims of Andrew Domonkos's sock puppet brigade.
I do not advocate creating more than one Goodreads profile, it is against their Terms of Service and unethical.

THE SHEPHERD Cover Art Poll: VOTE NOW!! #YA #Paranormal #Thriller #ASMSG

Yep, I am back again with another poll!  Guess you could say I am a cover art junkie, an addict of cover art.  Guilty as charged.

Here is my new baby, THE SHEPHERD, a YA Paranormal Thriller. 

Short description:  

Sixteen year old Mike Evans enters a dark, gritty world of mutual obsession when a homeless girl, Nadia, begins visiting him nightly.  Struggling with the tortures of high school and his grisly clairvoyant visions of the future, Mike tries to avert disaster before it strikes.  Though he desperately needs a friend, Mike can no longer ignore the signs that Nadia is much more than she seems.

And finally, the cover art done by the wonderful, phenomenal, highly talented, and affordable cover artistst:  Ida Janssen,  http://www.amygdaladesign.net/

The first three are a "Paranormal" style:

These four are a more gritty "Thriller" style:

So give it a vote, let me know which of Ida's artistic creations are the BEST.

And if you'd like to hire Ida for pre-made covers or custom work, or even awesome book trailers, find her here: