ONCE UPON A NIGHTMARE COLLECTION; by Cherie Reich

Excerpt: Cassie cringed at each bump along Tree Branch Trail. Gravel crunched underneath the truck’s tires, yet somehow the dilapidated vehicle withstood the beating. Squished between her best friend Mary and the door, Cassie tensed and tried not to hit anything or anyone as the truck vaulted over another pothole. She wished she had a seat belt on, but with two seat belts and four people in the front seat, it wasn’t happening. They should’ve taken her car, but it never would've made it on this backcountry road. Why didn’t they stick with the plan and not come out here anyway?

“How do you like your first off-roading adventure, Cassie?” Denise asked with the harsh laugh of a smoker while shifting her plump hips between her boyfriend James and her sister Mary.

“It’s great,” Cassie said without enthusiasm and with a whole truckload of sarcasm. The vehicle ran over a monstrous rut, and her head knocked against the window. She sucked in air through her teeth. Checking for a bump, she glanced over to Mary. Although three years younger and still in high school, Mary was Cassie’s best friend and confidante. Cassie had missed her most since she moved to Missouri for college. She leaned close to Mary’s ear. “I think we should’ve stayed and watched a different movie.”

“Me too,” Mary whispered back.

James slammed on the brakes, and the truck fishtailed to a stop.

Cassie pressed her hand against the glove compartment. Dashboard lights illuminated Mary’s grimace and her white knuckles from clutching the seat belt so hard.

“What’s out there?” Cassie peered ahead.

Title: Once upon a Nightmare: A Collection
Author: Cherie Reich
Genre: Paranormal Horror/Thriller
Release Date: April 16, 2015
Cover Art: Amygdala Design

Book Description: A monster hunts us. After hibernating for a decade, it’s ravenous. We long to stop this nightmare, but the end of the road is far. There is no waking up once a legend sets its sights on you.

Disappearances every ten or so years make little impact on the small town of New Haven, Virginia. Hikers get lost. Hunters lose the trail. Even when a body is discovered, the inhabitants’ memories last about as long as the newspaper articles.

No one connects the cases. No one notices the disappearances go back beyond Civil War times. No one believes a legendary monster roams the forests in Southwestern Virginia.

I don’t either until the truck breaks down on an old mountain trail. Cell phones won’t work in this neck of the woods. It’s amazing how much a person can see by starlight alone. So what if we can’t feel our fingers or toes as we hike toward the main road. How many more miles left to go?

Crrraaack!

Hear that noise?

Purchase Print/Ebook on Amazon! The ebook is on sale for $0.99 until April 30th.

About the Author: Cherie Reich has more books than she can ever read and more ideas than she can ever write, but that doesn't stop this bookworm from trying, even if it means trying to curb her TV addiction. She is a speculative fiction writer and library assistant living in Virginia. Her short stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies, and her books include the paranormal horror collection Once upon a Nightmare and the fantasy series The Foxwick Chronicles and The Fate Challenges. Reborn is her debut novel. She is a member of the Virginia Writers Club, Valley Writers, and Untethered Realms. For more information about her and her work, please visit her website and blog.

WRITER PROMO: PATH OF ANGELS - ZADEKIEL, by Patricia Josephine

Hi Ya'll

I interrupt my blog hiatus this month to fulfill a month's old commitment. One of two, actually. Though this post would work well for Z on April 30, I have another promo commitment that date. Can we just say WHEEEEE!! for Writer success on this W day? I consulted an online thesaurus to substitute a few non-W words.

Patricia Josephine is an awesome wicked cool self promoter. She sent out a variety of sample posts to choose from, and being flustered wobbly eyed from my blog break, I couldn't settle on just one. So I'm improvising winging it and combining a few choices winners. Hope you enjoy the effect.

About the Author:
Patricia Josephine never set out to become a writer. In fact, she never considered it an option during high school and college. She was all about art. On a whim, she wrote down a story bouncing in her head. That was the start of it and she hasn't regretted a moment. She writes young adult under the name Patricia Lynne.

Patricia lives with her husband in Michigan, hopes one day to have what will resemble a small petting zoo, has a fondness for dying her hair the colors of the rainbow, and an obsession with Doctor Who.

Links:
Twitter:   Website:  Google+   Wattpad  Goodreads

What’s in a name?

After Michael, I decided I wanted to find some more unique angel names. That’s a little tricky when I need archangel names. There aren’t that many. When I picked Zade's name, I hadn't really looked into the meaning, but it's interesting how his character developed and matches this.

Zadekiel

Angel of Prayer

Zadkiel is an angel of charity, solace and gentleness. This loving angel radiates comfort to those who are afraid, wounded or grieving. He also kindles a desire for spiritual development in the human heart and is considered an archangel, governing over the order of Thrones and Dominions. He is present in the bible as the angel who prevents Abraham from sacrificing his son Isaac to God. He guards the powers of invocation.

Characters of Color

I have to admit, when I first started writing this series, I didn’t think much about the color of my character’s skin. I just wrote the story down. Michael was the only one I really knew what he looked like because his looks had to be so cliché. Blue eyes, blond hair, perfect smile. He was a pretty boy being the archangel Michael. Through Twitter chats and discussions with others about the lack of person of color (POC) characters, like with bisexuality in Snapshots, I wanted to help change that.

Enter Zadekiel.

I knew he would be African American. The name fits someone with dark skin so he was a natural choice. My next challenge was going to book one and making sure his appearance was described because people do tend to assume the character is fair skinned. I even do that. It’s important that everyone sees characters in movies and books they can relate to. Everyone can be a hero. Stories are how we discover that.

An Atheist among Angels

Zephyr is one of my favorite characters in the series. She’s smart, strong, and likes to dye her hair fun colors. But my favorite aspect of her is she’s an atheist. I thought that was an interesting dynamic to throw at Zade. He sees her gift as divine and she thinks it’s annoying. I don’t blame her when it likes to butt in. Kind of like my muse.

The thing I refused to do with Zephyr is have her instantly convert. She knows Zade is an archangel and that shakes what she knows, but she decides she’s not about to blindly roll over and throw all her faith in God. Especially after some of the mess-ups she’s seen. If anything, she’s more skeptic of an all-knowing God and has no qualms questioning Zade’s path.

Blurb:
The path is lost.

With Michael gone, the mantle of leadership falls to Zadekiel. In this time of darkness, with tempers running short, Zade struggles to guide his brothers. Hope comes in the form of a green haired woman with a unique gift. She represents a way back to the path they lost when Michael disappeared.

Zephyr fills books with cryptic poetry, a powerful compulsion, which is more a curse than a blessing. With no control over her ability, she struggles to live a normal life. When she meets Zade, he insists her ability is a gift from God. Reluctantly, she agrees to join the cause–it’s hard to dispute a man with wings.

Now the path is found, but one question remains. Will it lead to further darkness?

Amazon Link  Goodreads Link

IWSG and PATH OF ANGELS pre-order

Today is April Fools day, the first posting day for A-Z Challenge (created by Arlee Bird of Tossing It Out), and is also the first Wednesday of the month and therefore time for Insecure Writers Support Group (founded by Alex J Cavanaugh). Anybody else feeling just slightly overwhelmed?

While I doubt there will be any fooling going on today (at my blog), and I am not participating in the A-Z Challenge. However, I am co-hosting April's IWSG with Suzanne Furness, Tonja Drecker, Toi Thomas, Rachna Chabria, and Fundy Blue. With so much going on today, you can see why our Ninja Captain would need so much assistance with the IWSG sign up list; as well our dear Arlee Bird in managing the Challenge sign up list.

Perhaps you can guess what my insecurity today might be? With everyone I know around the blogs joining in the yearly community events, here I am doing just the opposite: a blog break. I am usually not much of a joiner, and the thought of spending an entire month visiting several blogs a day is just plain intimidating. Over the last couple  years my blogging has cut back drastically. The busier I got at the day job the less time I devote to the activities of becoming a writer: writing, creating a marketable brand, gathering a potential readership, querying what little I have written.

When I became unemployed, I thought I would just dive right back into the writing world. No such luck as I worry constantly over regaining an income, paying my monthly bills, job hunting. And in all this, wondering where writing fits in my life. If I return to employment will I again focus on daily living? If I am able to get approved Disability, will I have the incentive to devote full time to writing and see were that leads?

Many bloggers IWSG for last month involved Time Management as a theme; and I'm pretty sure today will be just as big an issue for those participating in both IWSG and A-Z, plus working, writing, blogging, commenting, marketing, and somehow finding those few precious moments to divide between sleep and family. I am exhausted just thinking about all the activity.

I wish you all good luck in everything you are doing this month. Please scroll down a little more and enjoy a brief excerpt from Patricia Josephine's latest novel MICHAEL: PATH OF ANGELS.

See y'all in a month or so.

* * * *
Today I am also hosting guest author/blogger Patricia Jospehine (aka: Patricia Lynn). As I'll likely not post again in April, I thought it fitting that Patricia's post about the Archangel Michael fall on the first A-Z posting day and fill the letter A.



BLURB:
There is only one path.


Born mortal along with his three brothers, Michael is an Archangel with a specific role: hunt fallen angels and send them back to Hell. He is determined in his mission, never straying from his appointed path, until he meets Lake Divine, and discovers there may be more to his beliefs than blind duty.

But Lake is not who he seems. Offspring of a human and a fallen angel, a Nephilim, Lake must choose his own destiny: give in to the coldness and embrace the dark, or seek the light and rise above the sins of his father.

Two paths lay before them, but only one has the potential to destroy them both.

EXCERPT:
(Bilbo: A sword, especially one having a well-tempered blade.)


Warmth surrounded Michael, filling him with peace. Memories of his past life in Heaven flooded his thoughts. A lump formed, but he forced it down. "What do you want of me, Father?"

"I have a gift to help you on your path."

A bilbo appeared, flames dancing along the blade. Michael took the weapon. The hilt molded to his palm.

"It will listen only to your summon. Use it to strike down your foes."

Michael nodded. The warmth of his Father vanished. His brothers stood before him, waiting. He called his weapon. “We have Fallen to find.”

MICHAEL: PATH OF ANGELS is available for pre-order here.

About the Author:

Patricia Josephine never set out to become a writer. In fact, she never considered it an option during high school and college. She was all about art. On a whim, she wrote down a story bouncing in her head. That was the start of it and she hasn't regretted a moment. She writes young adult under the name Patricia Lynne.

Patricia lives with her husband in Michigan, hopes one day to have what will resemble a small petting zoo, has a fondness for dying her hair the colors of the rainbow, and an obsession with Doctor Who.

Links:

Twitter    Website    Google+   Wattpad     Goodreads