Friday, January 25, 2013

Friday Guest Post: C. R. Richards




Phantom Harvest by C. R. Richards

Available February 2013 from Whiskey Creek Press http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com/store/

Author Website: www.crrichards.com

eBook ISBN: 978-1-61160-384-2

Print ISBN is pending

Exploring the "What If Scenario" in the world of urban fantasy is both liberating and challenging. Your mind is free to explore the fantastic, however, there must be an element of the possible. A reader will enjoy the fantasy elements, but can also see themselves running into your characters at the local coffee shop or diner. That's the allure of urban fantasy.

In Phantom Harvest (Book One in the Mutant Casebook series), I explore what modern society would be like if an accident had split reality apart a few decades in the past. Human beings had been dragged from their homes and pulled through a rip in reality. Their genetic makeup mutated and they became characters from human folk tales.  As in any civilization, the most powerful gain control. In Mutant Casebook, Dark Elves are at the top of the food chain. Hungering for their old lives, they decided to model their new civilization after the human world. A great city has risen up. Industry runs the new economy. Humans are allowed through the conduit into the mutant world provided they have proper work visas. Civilization is thriving thanks to the treaty between races, but not everyone wants to be civilized. Gideon and his werecat partner, Hiroshi, don't buy into the dark elf business model. They prefer making their living on the fringe of mutant society along with the rest of the undesirables.

Blurb:

Gideon, a half-breed mutant with a surly temper and rotten luck, struggles to scrape a living as a tracker in the desolate territory near the gateway to the human world. Business seems to be picking up when Gideon is approached by a powerful dark elf with deep pockets and a serious problem. Human miners at the dark elf's plant are being taken by an elusive predator. Gideon is pressured to find the killer before word of the disappearances reaches the human world, endangering the tense relationship between their two races. But, nothing is simple this close to the conduit between worlds. Archangel, a ruthless mercenary operating in the secret sectors of mutant society, has set his own deadly game in motion.

Surrounded by savage wilderness and cut off from contact with civilization, Gideon must find a way to 
protect his friends and survive to collect his bounty.

Excerpt:
            Cheap cologne clumsily masking rotting flesh and stale earth crept closer. Gideon swallowed the last gulp of beer and took a deep breath through his mouth. There was no mistaking the stench. It was a calling card, a sensory announcement for the Graves Brothers. They were ghouls who’d tired of the rotting corpses and drained blood they could steal from their local mortuary. Crime paid well and sometimes it paid in fresh blood.
            Gideon gripped his spoon until it bent under the pressure of his thumb. The Graves Brothers typically didn’t stray far from their territory in the south side of New Athens. Something had dragged them out of their catacombs, onto the transport train and through the Outskirts Territory to land here in Hawthorne.
            Bandaged covered fingers gripped the chair across from Gideon and pulled it slowly away from the table. Doug Graves, head of the family and creep-in-charge, sat down carefully in the chair. His rotting body was covered head to toe in a gray trench coat topped with a fedora. He looked like a Humphrey Bogart movie gone wrong.
            “Gideon, you’re looking good enough to eat.” Doug’s voice grated across the table like dead wood running through a shredder.

Friday, January 11, 2013

Friday Guest Post: Juli D. Revezzo



Eye of the beholder

By

Juli D. Revezzo

The question of perception is one that we face every day. Do we really understand what we’re seeing sometimes? Take a car wreck. Experts say that if you have five different witnesses to the event you will get five different explanations of what happened.

I think the same thing happens in other areas of life. For instance, is there someone you work with or know that you just love, and others don’t? or vice versa?

Perception, as they say, is in the eye of the beholder and is something that changes throughout life. There’s a whole field of study on it, including but not limited to Alzheimer’s patients and perception. Sit in a warm house with an Alzheimer’s sufferer who claims they’re freezing and you’ll understand what I mean. Or take a look at your car. Does it really look like the color your registration lists? (Yes, I’ve heard this question before).

The question of perception concerns even my main character, Caitlin. In my debut paranormal novel,
The Artist’s Inheritance, Caitlin’s husband—an artist—gains a new patron who he and his mentors in the art community around them, think is just the best person to know. Caitlin, on the other hand, spends five seconds in the dude’s presence and knows something isn’t right about him. Read here and you’ll see:

* * * *
“How much will you take for these fine drawings?”
The male voice drew her attention away from Trevor’s work. A short man with black hair and a lazy eye, dressed in a pinstripe suit and straw hat, crossed the gallery to pause at Trevor’s side. “They’re your work, are they not? Are they available?”
“Yes, they’re mine,” Trevor said. “They’re not for sale. Sorry.”
Caitlin eyed the older man. Who’s this fella?
“Don’t be absurd, Trevor.” Abby Wilkins jumped in before Caitlin could ask.
Caitlin took in his fine coat, the diamond gleaming from his ring finger. More than likely, the man could pay a fortune for the pictures. Perhaps even the chair they had stashed in the attic. Maybe they’d be rid of the stupid thing yet.
“For you, Mr. Hofter? Of course they are.”
“No, I’m sorry,” Trevor said. “They’re not for sale.”
Abby choked and pulled Trevor aside. “Are you mad, darling? Do you know who he is?”
Caitlin peered over Abby’s shoulder, seeing the man in question studying a Jeffersonian era desk. Trevor grimaced. “I can’t say I do.”
“That’s Marvin Hofter,” Mrs. Wilkins said conspiratorially.
“Who’s Marvin Hofter?” Caitlin asked.
Abby spluttered and tugged at the collar of her linen blouse. “How can you not know him?”
The name meant nothing; Caitlin could only give her a blank look. “I don’t.”
“My dear, he’s only the editor in chief of Antiques Daily.”
Now Caitlin understood why Trevor’s mentor was making such a huge deal.
Trevor touched one of the sketches, almost, Caitlin thought, as if he would protect them. “I’m sorry, no. The pictures aren’t for sale.”
Hofter pursed his lips and retrieved a card case from the pocket of his silk coat. He pulled forth an embossed business card and handed it to him. “If you change your mind, don’t hesitate to call me.” The man tipped his hat and walked away.
Caitlin kept her gaze on him. Something about him made her want to grab Trevor and move as far away as possible. Like to Siberia.
* * * *
This is something Caitlin struggles throughout The Artist’s Inheritance, she can’t convince anyone of her feelings about Hofter, and she can’t explain why he makes her uneasy—and he’s not the only one she questions. It seems everyone around her has some sort of duality. Is she right about Hofter and the others comprising her husband’s new circle? Is there something out of the ordinary about them—something supernatural and sinister? Are they out to harm her family? How far can she trust her perception of them? Her questions continue in the follow up, Caitlin’s Book of Shadows.

I hope you’ll take a look at the stories and find out for yourself. If you’d like to see how Caitlin’s perception lines up with her reality The Artist’s Inheritance is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords and in paperback from Createspace.

Meanwhile, it’s something to think about, right? How trustworthy is our perception of the world? Are you sure of what you see? Or is the world subject to the eye of the beholder?


Synopsis:

Trouble only a witch can solve...

Settling into a new home, Caitlin notices changes coming over her husband. When nightmares deepen and ghosts begin lurking--Caitlin knows something's not right, and not just her newfound precognitive abilities. It's the damned chair her husband's carving, she's sure. Could it be just what it seems: a mundane piece of furniture? If so, why is it attracting dark forces--the forces she suspects drove Trevor's siblings to insanity and suicide?

Armed with a handful of allies--a coven of helpful witches--she must proceed with caution against the hellish forces besieging her family. If she fails, she may lose forever the one thing she cares about most: her beloved Trevor.


About The Author
Juli D. Revezzo has long been in love with writing, a love built by devouring everything from the Arthurian legends, to the works of Michael Moorcock, and the classics and has a soft spot for classic the "Goths" of the 19th century, in love of which she received a Bachelor's degree in literature from the University of South Florida. Her short fiction has been published in Dark Things II: Cat Crimes, The Scribing Ibis, Eternal Haunted Summer, Twisted Dreams Magazine and Luna Station Quarterly. She also has an article and book review or two out there. But her heart lies in the storytelling. She is a member of the Independent Author Network and the Magic Appreciation Tour.


You can find all the books in the Antique Magic series at: Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Juli-D.-Revezzo/e/B008AHVTLO


Book Trailer for The Artist's Inheritance
http://www.youtube.com/embed/gjMsYqa9nUA

Book Trailer for Caitlin's Book of Shadows
http://www.youtube.com/embed/5tjqR_QPaTo

Buy link for Caitlin's Book of Shadows
http://amzn.to/Wxlf7q

And you can learn more about Juli at:


Authors Den:









Thanks, Pamela, for having me here!