>>What is that big ball of light in the sky? Dear God, my eyes! It burns!
We've been hammered by one snow storm after another. I don't remember the last time I saw blue sky. So I took advantage of it and went snowshoeing with Whisky Joe our Pudelpointer who loves the snow. I've never been a fan of winter, but it's hard not to love it on a day like this. Here's a pic of Whisky Joe doing his best yeti impression.
In this quiet time, I've been busy catching up on the business side of publishing while writing Valkyrie Bestiary Book 7. A tiny teaser snippet to come, but first I want to talk about the Valkyrie Bestiary Street Team.
What is a street team? It's a dedicated group of readers who help to get the word out when new books release. In return for getting a free download of new releases, they write an honest review (and honest is the key here) on or around launch day. They also might post book details on their social media platforms of choice. I am very grateful to my team for helping to promote books in the past.
Why am I mentioning this? Because I have some openings on my street team for new members. Would you like to get new Valkyrie Bestiary books before anyone else? Do you enjoy reviewing books on Amazon, Goodreads or other book review platforms? Do you like talking about books on social media? Then you might be a good candidate for the street team. If you're interested, please reply HERE. Spots are limited, so please let me know asap.
And now a tiny (very unedited) snippet from Valkyrie Bestiary Book 7 (still untitled):
I watched Mason work for a few minutes. The gate hinge was too bent to salvage and the fence post had splintered. He pried the gate from the post and put it aside, then started digging out the post.
In the fading light, his face was hidden in shadows and his shoulders flexed like the withers of some great beast.
“Can’t this wait until morning?” I asked. “It’s almost dark.”
“He glanced up and a bit of stray light caught his eyes.
“Is it? I hadn’t noticed.” He shrugged. “Old habits, I guess.”
Mason had spent most of the last three hundred years in the dark. He rarely spoke of what it was like to make that switch from a nocturnal creature, but once in a while I caught him standing in the light with his face tilted toward the sun.
He leaned the shovel and crowbar beside the discarded gate, then slung his arm over my shoulder and pulled me close. He smelled like the outdoors—like fresh water and loamy earth.
He breathed into my hair and said, “Let’s go see about that glass of wine.”
A figure burst through open gate. Hooves clattered over the discarded wood. The beast was taller than me at the shoulder and crowned in a black shaggy mane. It reared and pawed at the sky. Then it took off toward the house, veered before it reached the porch and galloped into the trees.
Mason and I stood in silent awe.
“What was that?” he finally said.
“Dunno. Shagamaw, I think.” It was too dark and the intrusion and happened so fast, I didn’t get a good look. Shagamaws were in the deer family, though closer to the moose side than the white-tails, so it was a good bet.
“Dangerous?”
“Only if you get in their way.”
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What Am I Reading?
Every year, I track my reading with the GoodReads reading challenge. I like to look back at the year and savor some of my favorite books. I thought, this year, I would take that a step further and highlight some of those books here in a new section called, What Am I Reading? Here's my first entry.In January, I read 11 books, mostly urban fantasy, with a bit of epic fantasy and suspense thrown in. By far, my favorite was The Other Realm Series by Heather G. Harris. Here's the first book, Glimmer of the Other.
I’m Jinx. As a private investigator, being a walking, talking lie detector is a useful skill – but let’s face it, it’s not normal. You’d think it would make my job way too easy, but even with my weird skills, I still haven’t been able to track down my parent’s killers.
When I’m hired to find a missing university student, I hope to find her propped up at a bar – yet my gut tells me there’s more to this case than a party girl gone wild. Firstly, she’s a bookish soul who’s as likely to go off the rails as Mother Theresa. Secondly, I’m not the only one on her trail; she’s also being tracked by the implacable and oh-so-sexy Inspector Stone.
I listened to this and the others in the series on audiobook, and I can tell you, my house has never been so clean because I was looking for excuses to listen! Harris has created a really unique world with dragons, wizards, vampires, shifters and more, all living together, in harmony...or so it seems until Jinx digs a little deeper into the strange new world.
There's a bit of romance that doesn't overwhelm the action, and then there's the hellhound, named Gato. And you know how much I love a hellhound! I'm not shy about DNF-ing a book if I don't like it, and to be honest, I probably start twice as many books as I finish. Life is too short to read a boring book. Glimmer of the Other is not that. I read books 1-4 in about as many days and I'm already looking forward to book 5.
Click HERE to get Glimmer of the Other
This works both ways. I'd love to hear what your favorite recent reads are. The TBR pile on my bedside table is about ready to topple over and smother me, but there's always room for another great book. Let me know by replying right to the email.
Book Fairs & Great Deals
Spotlight Books
Winterstruck
by Sara C. Walker
The fae were yanked out of Faerie with no way to return.
Canadian black ops agent Julia Ivory hasn’t recovered from losing her partner. Determined to battle dangerous magical creatures solo, she digs into a new case of burned bodies all over Toronto. And when security footage reveals the culprit is a rogue fae, it’s a race against time to prevent any more fiery deaths.
Click Her to buy Winterstruck
Escorting the Alien
by Ava Ross
I’m trapped on a volcanic planet with a surly alien who thinks I’m his for the taking. What could go wrong with that?
After losing my job as a space pilot, I’m short on cash. That’s when I’m hired to fly a visiting diplomat back to his home planet. His name’s Vexion, but I call him Vex, because he’s a grumpy brute, and every time he opens his mouth, he says something to irritate me. Unfortunately, whenever I’m near him, my knees melt.
When our escape pod crashes us in the path of an erupting volcano, we have to find a way to survive together. Our snippy bickering soon sparks heat of a different kind, and it’s all I can do to resist him. I'm supposed to escort him, but it looks like I'm about to be escorted out of my clothing.
Click Her to get Escorting the Alien FREE
