On My Shelves is a weekly post at The Book Faery Reviews which shares THREE books from our personal collection. These books could be favorites, books to be read as soon as possible for our own enjoyment, as well as books to be read soon for scheduled reviews.

Books let us into their souls and lay open to us the secrets of our own.  ~William Hazlitt

HERE ON EARTH BY ALICE HOFFMAN - The bestselling author of Turtle Moon and Practical Magic tells her most seductive and mesmerizing tale yet—the story of March Murray, who returns to her small Massachusetts hometown after nineteen years, encountering her childhood sweetheart…and discovering the heartbreaking and complex truth about their reckless and romantic love.

From bestselling author Alice Hoffman comes Here on Earth, a spellbinding tale of love and obsession. After nearly twenty years of living in California, March Murray, along with her fifteen-year-old daughter, Gwen, returns to the small Massachusetts town where she grew up to attend the funeral of Judith Dale, the beloved housekeeper who raised her. Thrust into the world of her past, March slowly realizes the complexity of the choices made by those around her, including Mrs. Dale, who knew more of love than March could have ever suspected; Alan, the brother whose tragic history has left him grief-stricken, with alcohol his only solace; and Hollis, the boy she loved, the man she can’t seem to stay away from. Erotic, disturbing, and compelling, Here on Earth is the dramatic and lyrical account of the joys of love, and the destruction love can release.

ICE QUEEN BY ALICE HOFFMAN - From the bestselling author of Practical Magic, a miraculous, enthralling tale of a woman who is struck by lightning, and finds her frozen heart is suddenly burning.

Be careful what you wish for. A small town librarian lives a quiet life without much excitement. One day, she mutters an idle wish and, while standing in her house, is struck by lightning. But instead of ending her life, this cataclysmic event sparks it into a new beginning.

She goes in search of Lazarus Jones, a fellow survivor who was struck dead, then simply got up and walked away. Perhaps this stranger who has seen death face to face can teach her to live without fear. When she finds him, he is her opposite, a burning man whose breath can boil water and whose touch scorches. As an obsessive love affair begins between them, both are forced to hide their most dangerous secrets–what turned one to ice and the other to fire.

A magical story of passion, loss, and renewal, The Ice Queen is Alice Hoffman at her electrifying best.

LORD OF THE DEAD BY TOM HOLLAND - Wandering with his friend Hobhouse in the mountains of Greece, Byron is drawn to the beauty of a mysterious fugitive slave whose pale, slim body and burning, black-fringed eyes arouse his lust; soon Byron is utterly entranced, and his fate is sealed. The supreme sensualist embarks on a life of adventure even his genius could not have foreseen – that of the world’s most formidable vampire. Chosen to enjoy powers beyond those any vampire has ever known, Byron enters a dark, intoxicating world, traversing centuries of long-lost secrets, ancient arts, and scorching excesses of evil. From the Levant to London’s salons, from the frozen Alps to the dark languors of Venice, he drinks deeply of terror and sex, ever more desperate to destroy his need for the most forbidden of desires. But his diversions, delicious and cruel, are suffused with the rich scent of doom. Byron’s gift is also his torment: an all-consuming thirst that withers life at the root, damning those he loves…

Drawing on the facts of Byron’s flamboyant, tortured life, as well as clues in the mysterious, dark imagery of his poetry, Holland paints a portrait of the poet as an aristocrat of remarkable beauty and deadly charm with a shocking, bloody secret.

All book summaries are from Barnes & Noble.

People die every day.

But not all of the souls can or want to move onto the afterlife.

That’s where the brothers Thane and Mort Grym come in.

Thane and Mort are bounty hunters for dead souls. They inherited the job from their father and they’re two of the best in town.

But when there’s a double homicide at the Kirkland Motel the Grym brothers end up with more than they bargained for. In a world without vampires, zombies or the undead, one of their bounties might not be as dead as he’s supposed to be.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Jason Krumbine is the author behind the pulse pounding, wisecracking Alex Cheradon Series, the dead soul hunting Grym Brothers Series (including Two and a Half Dead Men, The Dead Couple and Better Off Dead), and the tongue-in-cheek paranormal romance “A Graveyard Romance.”

You can visit his website at www.jasonkrumbine.com or visit him at Twitter at www.twitter.com/jasonkrumbine and Facebook atwww.facebook.com/jmkwriter. You can also email him at onestrayword@gmail.com.

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…Two bickering brothers completely different but funny “watching” them work together. While the book didn’t have me roaring with laughter or scared/sick to my stomach from some of the “gore”, it was still entertaining and I enjoyed feeling as if I was there following the brothers along the whole time. I believe I will be reading the next book in the Grym Brothers series.

Be sure to check out Krumbine’s guest post at The Book Faery Reviews where he talks about who gave him the idea behind the series HERE.

Giveaways, Contests & Prizes!

Join Jason Krumbine at the Pump Up Your Book Live! November Author Chat / Book Giveaway Party on Friday, November 18 starting at8 p.m. eastern!

Jason will be giving away three e-copies of his books in The Grym Brothers Series!  You could win a copy of Two and a Half Dead, The Dead Couple and Better Off Dead simply by attending the  chat and asking Jason a question.  All there is to it!

For details on chat, visit the official chat page for the November authors at Pump Up Your Book Live!

But I didn’t really consider who the audience was, and at the time, I didn’t even know book bloggers existed, much less that they generally divided themselves into certain categories. I was just trying to finish a novel, which felt like a feat in and of itself.

As a result, I now have a novel I have trouble describing to people because it doesn’t break down into any conventional format. It is part mystery, part suspense-thriller, part paranormal romance, and a little bit of horror—with an underlying subplot about the nature of community journalism.

This has become quite a problem for me. When I published the novel, friends would ask, “What kind of novel is it?” At first I answered “horror,” because the book has the Headless Horseman on the cover and I thought that was the right answer. Some friends were happy with that, but others cringed. “Oh,” they said. “I don’t really like horror. I can’t stand gore.”

I would then rush to explain that the novel is just a tiny bit horror and contains no gore of any sort. I hate gore: I don’t find it interesting as a reader or a writer. Somehow, it feels cheap. Still, my overall point was this: my novel isn’t really horror.

Then I tried calling it a “paranormal romance,” because it has a heavy romantic and paranormal element to it. The novel is about two characters that must learn to trust each other to destroy the fears haunting both of them. But it didn’t feel quite right to call it a paranormal romance, given that a lot of books technically in that genre are fundamentally different than mine. There are no vampires, werewolves or angels, and my novel doesn’t feel like the next “Twilight.”

Adding to my difficulty is that the book has a huge mystery element to it. A notorious serial killer named Lord Halloween has returned to Leesburg,Virginia, and the police are desperately trying to find his identity. Local journalists Quinn and Kate are also investigating the trail and the answer isn’t revealed until the final few chapters.

But could I call the book a mystery? I tend to think of mysteries as Agatha Christie novels or the Nevada Barr books starring Anna Pigeon. Importantly, none of those books have elements of the supernatural in them—and mine definitely does.

When I queried book bloggers, the situation got even worse. Some wanted paranormal romances but hated mystery-thrillers. Others liked urban fantasy but not horror, something I didn’t even think was possible.

All this had me wondering: what the hell is my book? Is it a mystery-paranormal romance, a supernatural thriller, or a horror-lite with a side of suspense and a bit of bacon?

It wasn’t until the first reviews started rolling in that I finally figured it out. What kind of novel did I write? The one consistent thing I heard from my friends and others who read the novel was this: “I couldn’t put it down.” One told me she had no time to read my novel, but then proceeded to start it at 3 p.m. and read it straight through until the next day. Once she started, she was hooked.

I ran into similar reactions from many others. “A Soul to Steal” clocks in at around 450 pages—and took me years to write—but readers started blowing through the novel within a few days.

Once readers got over any preconceptions they had about whether it was a horror, suspense or paranormal romance, they found it didn’t matter. They just wanted to see how things turned out.

Now that’s the answer I give to the question, “What kind of book is it?”

“It’s a page-turner,” I say with a smile.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Rob Blackwell is a long-time journalist who currently serves as the Washington bureau chief for American Banker. “A Soul to Steal” is his first novel. He lives inVirginia with his wife and two children. Visit the author’s Facebook page.

 You Are What You Fear

Something is stalking the citizens of Loudoun County, Va.

Is it the return of the notorious serial killer known as Lord Halloween? Or is it something worse—a figure that can cloak itself as your worst nightmare?

Kate and Quinn, two community journalists, rush to uncover the truth before a promised bloodbath on Halloween night.

• Publisher: Rob Blackwell; 1 edition (August 29, 2011)
• Format: E-book; ~450 pgs

 

BUY THE BOOK… Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

Hmmm…I think it’s been a couple of weeks since I last participated… so many books to share with you today. In addition to the below books I downloaded a bunch of FREE B&N ebooks for my Nook Color. You can find those titles and links to download HERE.

Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge - Halloween, 1963. They call him the October Boy, or Ol’ Hacksaw Face, or Sawtooth Jack. Whatever the name, everybody in this small Midwestern town knows who he is. How he rises from the cornfields every Halloween, a butcher knife in his hand, and makes his way toward town, where gangs of teenage boys eagerly await their chance to confront the legendary nightmare. Both the hunter and the hunted, the October Boy is the prize in an annual rite of life and death.

Pete McCormick knows that killing the October Boy is his one chance to escape a dead-end future in this one-horse town. He’s willing to risk everything, including his life, to be a winner for once. But before the night is over, Pete will look into the saw-toothed face of horror—and discover the terrifying true secret of the October Boy . . .

Fires of Winter by Roberta Gellis - A sparkling prize, the beautiful Mellusine of Ulle is awarded to the bastard-born Bruno of Jernaeve as a spoil of war. Bruno vows to tame the rebellious spirit of the captive beauty, but ultimately surrenders to her charms. Born of different worlds, joined in the flames of passion and intrigue, they find new strength in each other’s arms…and a burning love that defies all eternity.

No Story to Tell by KL Steele - Have you ever wondered if you can be born into the wrong life?This is a question Victoria Lackey, a once promising dancer, tries hard not to ask herself as she wanders through her days, tending her secrets and burying her past.It is a question that begins to whisper to her after a chance meeting with Elliot, a sensual artist from the city, who recognizes the dancer’s spirit within her.A question that presses for an answer after softly seductive anonymous telephone calls encourage her forward into a life of her own.A question that demands an answer when the woman she is explodes inside the woman she has become.Buried dreams, anonymous telephone calls, and a heart full of secrets. NO STORY TO TELL is a story that demanded to be told.

Demons Like it Hot by Sydney Ayers - Serah SanGermano runs a successful catering company in a Midwestern town. After she inadvertently helped her friend unleash a legion of demons, she’s been trying to hide her own newly discovered powers. Matthias Ambrose, a mysterious demon mercenary sent to protect her, has his own secret— one that will embroil them both in the scandal from hell.

Hold Me If You Can by Stephanie Rowe - The third in a paranormal romance series packed with danger, sensuality and clever twists features Nigel Aquarian, a warrior with an artistic bent, and Natalie Fleming, a chocolatier who has a new lease on life. But her freedom comes with a dangerous gift she doesn’t want.

Nigel and his fellow warriors have only just escaped imprisonment when an even worse threat emerges. Natalie is the only woman who can help Nigel–but she’s also the one most likely to bring him down.

Life of Shouty: Food & Fitness by NeonSeon - In the second book of the Life of Shouty series, Shouty goes from overweight and overwhelmed to fit and focused. Life of Shouty: Food & Fitness promotes a healthy, active lifestyle and reminds us it’s never too late to start making changes.

Life of Shorty: Good Habits by NeonSeon - Shouty tries to develop good habits in his quest to become the person he wants to be. Will his bad habits prevail? Or can Shouty pull through, and make better choices?

Stronger Than Sin by Caridad Pineiro - Dr. Liliana Carrera nearly lost her life to Wardwell scientists. She won’t let them harm other innocent victims, like her new patient, Jesse Bradford. The former pro athlete had the best hands in the NFL . . . until an injury forced him to undergo Wardwell’s experimental gene therapy. Now Jesse’s gorgeous body is superhuman-but his strength comes at a price.

With Wardwell threatening his family, Jesse can’t tell Liliana all he knows. Yet he can’t resist her compassion . . . or her healing, erotic touch. As their passion flares, Jesse’s body becomes dangerous and volatile. For evil men are plotting to change the face of humanity-and will destroy whoever stands in their way.

Shockwave by Norm Applegate - Jack Dwyer is observant. Sitting at Starbucks he watches a van come to a stop. A nervous guy gets out, looks around, seems strange. Dwyer watches him. The guy crosses the street. Dwyer realizes the guy’s staring at a pretty woman, Kelly Paul. Dwyer makes eye contact with her. Dwyer looks left, right, reacts, moves fast, pushes her down, saves her but the bomb explodes. People are killed. She goes missing and Dwyer is the suspect.

Dwyer can’t forget her. Doesn’t understand why she’s missing. He’s a loner, ex-military, a psychologist and he has seen death. He’s wildly attracted to the pretty woman and he goes after her.

Beau Redell, and a group of sadistic followers, is the problem. Kelly Paul has been taken, abducted, terrorized. But Dwyer finds himself alone and a violent conclusion is inevitable…

“The Birthing House by Christopher Ransom is a debut novel that is alternately beautifully surreal and downright terrifying. It’s been a very long time since I read a book that actually scared me. Pulse pounding, turn on the lights and pull your feet up off the floor and tuck them under you, your bejeebers have left the building, type of scare-me.” - The Novel Bookworm

“Once in a long while, the claim of a “stunning debut novel” is actually deserved. Christopher Ransom’s The Birthing House is one of those rarities.  Not a traditional mystery — no cops-and-villains stuff, nary a PI to be found. Nor a straight-up horror story, haunted-house or otherwise. But, merging all of these, thriller it most assuredly is. And if little shudders aren’t tap-dancing your spine about 20 pages into this thing you should lay off the Prozac.  Infectiously terrifying (not least because Ransom does not bludgeon you with it), this tale could make you re-examine your dreams, memories, marriage, kids, neighbours, even your dog.  And stop your breath cold.” - Winnipeg Free Press

“Either I don’t know my horror stories (and I do know my horror stories) or Christopher Ransom’s The Birthing House was so all-out scary that it kept me up until the wee hours in a way few novels have since Carrie went to the prom. Alone, in the dark, this modern-day tale of ancient Liliths and their spawn kept me wondering if every sound was a tall, bone-pale woman in a long, crackling black dress. This book is killer.” - Jacquelyn Mitchard author of The Deep End of the Ocean and Still Summer

 

With reviews like these who could resist grabbing a copy AND your big dog who’ll protect you while you read it?! I know I can’t!

When thirty-somethings Conrad and Joanna Harrison choose to start a new life in a former turn-of-the-century birthing house in a small Wisconsin town, their marriage is healing but fragile, vulnerable to private yearnings and darker histories. They have no idea the secrets they are keeping from one another will induce a series of hauntings.

An infant wailing from the depths at night. Carpet tearing open to reveal floors stained by an ancient blood lust. A darkly clad woman who visits Conrad with increasingly bold demands…and who bears a striking resemblance to his wife.

For no sooner are Conrad and Jo learning to make amends than Jo is called away to train out of state for a new job. But earning their daily bread is not her chief concern. Since moving into their new home, Jo has sensed unsettling changes in her husband, and she’s carrying a secret of her own. One that’s due to arrive in about nine months.

Alone in the house for six weeks, assailed by visions he cannot comprehend, Conrad becomes obsessed with the girl next door, Nadia Grum, a pregnant teen who claims to be a victim of the evil living under his roof. As Conrad and Nadia begin to spend one hot summer night after another in the birthing house, revealing their secrets, they unlock a common need to begin again.

But is it an affair of the heart, or something more sinister? Is Nadia just another confused and frightened woman running from her abusive ex-boyfriend, or is something in the house calling her back every time she tries to run away?

Torn between two expecting women, Conrad must confront his own dark history and paternal fears before the house gives birth to a new monster and destroys his last chance to make a family.

The Birthing House is a tale of one man’s descent into madness and an unflinching exploration of the everyday domestic horrors of dual-career marriage, infidelity, imminent parenthood, and the darkest recesses of human desire, where dreams and nightmares share the same marital bed. – FROM THE AUTHOR SITE

Please note that these were FREE as of TODAY. I can not guarantee that they will be free at a later time from this post. Hopefully you’ll get the chance to download them while they remain free.

Below are today’s latest free finds (click the covers to the download pages)…

SELF-HELP

BUSINESS / FINANCES

ADULT FICTION

CHILDREN’S FICTION

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

CLASSICS

MISCELLANEOUS

Found any new free ebooks lately?

I am a LinkShare affiliate. Some images contain a Linkshare which compensates me a little.

Covers are so important in marketing a book and Silas’ cover is gorgeous.
How did you go about creating this cover/having this cover made?
What was the most important thing you wanted the cover to convey?

Turns out, I have a partner! When I started putting together my first book for publication (I.e. rewriting the whole thing), I received a call from an old friend of mine, a fantastic artist named Jesse Young. He wanted to work together with me, maybe putting together a comic book or something along those lines. So I said, “How about you illustrate my books?” We’ve been partners-in-crime ever since. He’s created the covers for all of my books, as well as the illustrations found inside The Fall, Dead of Winter, and The Gate: 13 Dark and Odd Tales. It’s developed into a symbiotic relationship. His art inspires me, while my writing inspires him. At least I hope it does…

As for what I wanted the cover of Silas to convey, I needed a couple things. First and foremost, there had to be a dog on it. It is the story of a man and his dog, after all. And I also wanted some of the inherent creepiness of the story to be demonstrated. That way, it wouldn’t shock anyone to start reading and then find out hey, there’s weird things going on here! And he pulled it off beautifully.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Robert J. Duperre is a lover of literature in all its forms. Be it horror, fantasy, science fiction, literary fiction, or even romance, he delves into it all and relishes every minute of it. It is his desire to show this love of all genres by creating wide-reaching stories that defy classification, that can reach the widest possible audience.

Robert lives in northern Connecticut with his wife, the artist Jessica Torrant, his three wonderful children, and Leonardo the one-eyed wonder yellow Lab. You can read more about Robert and his views and ideas by visiting robertduperre.com.

FOLLOW THE AUTHOR… Website | Facebook | Twitter

Ken Lowery is a man at odds with his life. He hates his job, is disappointed in his marriage, and feels resigned to leading a mundane existence.

That all changes when his wife brings home a rambunctious Black Labrador puppy named Silas, who forges a remarkable connection with Ken and begins to heal his inner turmoil. When some neighborhood children start to go missing, he takes it upon himself to protect those around him and is thrust into a surreal world where monsters roam. Not everything is what it seems to be, he soon discovers, including his new best friend.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS…Silas will be on tour from August 29th to September 16th with a Kismet Book Tour! There will be a contest during the Tour including the chance for one reader to win a Kindle3 WiFi, complete with a copy of Silas, The Rift Book I & II and and a personal note from Robert to the winner. US/Canada only. See full rules here. 

All you have to do is go the the blogs listed below, read through the posts, and enter into the contest forms. Each form has a rather simple question having to do with building the Silas playlist, and the correct answer will award you 3 points toward the grand prize!

KISMET TOUR SCHEDULE

Monday, August 29th - April, My Shelf Confessions
Tuesday, August 30th - Johnny, Pages of Forbidden Love
Wednesday, August 31st - Greta, Paranormal Wastelands
Thursday, September 1st - Lisa, A Casual Reader’s Blog
Friday, September 2nd - Karen, The Slowest Bookworm
Monday, September 5th - Melissa, Books and Things
Tuesday, September 6th - Heather and Pushy, Bewitched Bookworms
Wednesday, September 7th - Cindy, Oodles of Books
Thursday, September 8th - Theresa, Just One More Paragraph
Friday, September 9th – Gef, Wagging The Fox - Interview with Rob
Monday, September 12th – Mandy, The Well-Read Wife – This and That
Tuesday, September 13th – aobibliophile™ - Rob reads an excerpt of Silas
Wednesday, September 14th – Aparajita, Le’ Grande Codex – Interview
Thursday, September 15th – Farrah, The Book Faery Reviews
Friday, September 16th – Nevey, Le Vanity Victorienne

Answer the question of the day in the form below and you are entered in the Kindle3 Giveaway.

Tuesday, September 20th: Announcement of the big prize winner on Rob’s Site!

Who knows, maybe if I’m lucky I’ll be able to get an exclusive interview or just have her visit us here with a guest post! Clare Dunkle…if you happen to see this post as an incoming link, we sure hope you leave us a comment and let us know if you might have some time for us. Pretty please!

Young Tabby Aykroyd has been brought to the dusty mansion of Seldom House to be nursemaid to a foundling boy. He is a savage little creature, but the Yorkshire moors harbor far worse, as Tabby soon discovers. Why do scores of dead maids and masters haunt Seldom House with a jealous devotion that extends beyond the grave?

As Tabby struggles to escape the evil forces rising out of the land, she watches her young charge choose a different path. Long before he reaches the old farmhouse of Wuthering Heights, the boy who will become Heathcliff has doomed himself and any who try to befriend him.

• Henry Holt and Co., September 2010
• Grade Range: 7 and up, Age Range: 12 and up
• ISBN: 978-0-8050-9116-8, ISBN10: 0-8050-9116-5

First, I have to brag. Just a little. The Book Faery Reviews was UBER-EXCITED to be put onto the printed back cover of First to Die by Norman Applegate. BIG accomplishment in our eyes here in book review land. BIG. (well at least for us!) Ironically, there aren’t many book reviews for the horror genre here (and we do love some horror) yet this one was selected. We were ECSTATIC when the email message with proposed cover (see above), the Facebook message, and of course the printed signed copy came in the mail. ECSTATIC. Everyone who knew about us outside of the internet were just excited. Because you know we just HAD to share the awesome news.

Norman signed a publishing deal with the Turkish company, ARVO Basim Yayin (tip: your web browser should be able to translate the site for you into English). Three of his books have been translated and go on sale this month (June) throughout Turkey. He, John Everson and Jack Ketchum have been signed with the company and he felt honored to be in such good company with those writers.

First to Die was released this past March…

Now on to my interview with our friend Norm…

The Book Faery Reviews: This is your fourth book. Can you tell us about it?

Norman Applegate: First to Die, is an adventure horror vampire story. It’s a sequel to Blood Bar. My character, Kim Bennett goes after a document that has been stolen. It’s a scroll that tells the way of the vampire. The adventure takes her to Paris, where beneath Notre-Dame vampires have gathered to unveil its meaning. The purpose is to unleash the Black Sun and forever enslave mankind to the vampires as a food source. Kim, facing her own struggle of becoming a vampire is bound to stop them. She doesn’t want to see the world she loves ruled by the dark side.

TBFR: Norm, you have one of the most unique heroines I have ever read, Kim Bennett – can you tell us about her?

NA: Kim Bennett is the heroine in my books. She’s smart, very smart. Gifted with the ability to memorize details at a glance, makes her an outstanding problem solver. Fearless, a risk taker. Lives life on the edge. A former S&M mistress. However, she’s going through an awakening as she becomes a vampire. This smart, edgy, tough character makes her ideal for an action adventure. She’s the kind of person some of us wish we could be, but would never dare to live like that.

TBFR: Your Vampire world is different from anything I’ve read. How did that come about?

NA: If you go back to the original Bram Stoker, Dracula. The vampire escapes in the late afternoon. The belief that vampires were destroyed by sunlight came about in the 1922 film, Nosferatu. So I took a slightly different approach. Vampires started the myth so they could hide themselves, you know be among us in the daylight, hunt us, kill us. They live beside us, night or day. My vampires are vicious greedy consumers of flesh and power. They are the executives and leaders of our society with a very dark side.

TBFR: How do you approach your writing?

NA: I try to write every day during the week, evenings, sometimes early morning. Weekends are marketing and family stuff. I work as a consultant and leave home each week, living in hotels, which works out fine for me. No interruptions. When I start a novel, I write forty or fifty sentences, thoughts, maybe a headline. From that I might build it into fifty paragraphs, one for each chapter. Then I’m ready to write. I know where I’m going. I might have a good plan but then something happens. Ideas get triggered while you’re writing and off you go. Your creative juices take you on a ride you didn’t know was going to develop.

TBFR: What’s your favorite part of a book?

NA: I like the opening chapter, the first sentence. When I pick up a book. It’s the cover that grabs me. Then I go right for the first sentence of the first chapter. What do I feel when I read it? Is something happening? I like a punch. Then I look at the opening sentences of the next few chapters. If I’m not intrigued, I put the book down. For me, it’s exciting to see how you’re being introduced to the story or character. It’s that first reaction.

TBFR: How long does it take to write a book?

NA: I’m slow. Takes me about six months to lay down the first draft. Then a few months of editing. I have a couple of friends I send the manuscript to. Have them point out gaps, things I didn’t explain. Basically ask them to look for holes or answers to questions that came up when they read it. With First to Die I used a professional editor. I liked the experience. I’m going to do that from now on.

TBFR: What are you working on now?

NA: My next novel is a thriller. Not a horror. The character, Jack Dwyer witnesses a car bombing, saves a woman. They go the hospital. She vanishes. He’s a suspect. Then he goes to search for her.

TBFR: Do you have a website?

NA: There’s a few places to reach out to me. The usual, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, The Kindle Boards. I’ve started a blog http://normapplegate/blogspot.com and my website is http://www.normapplegate.com.

Thanks Norm for taking the time to chat with us. I know I’m looking forward to reading that thriller you’ve got coming out in the future. I’m closing this interview with the book trailer for First To Die. *Readers note that this video has some gore to it.*

Coherced into a grave robbing scheme by a group of vampires, Kim Bennett has noidea she’s been set up for a grisly murder, her own. Following leads to New York and Paris, Kim battles twisted characters, a killer with a sickening fetish and a society fueled by blood lust. This novel is as much a thriller as it is blunt force trauma. Laced with sexual frenzy layered on graphic violence, this book is not for vegetarians. - FROM THE BOOK BACK

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Norm Applegate lives in Sarasota, and writes thrillers, horror and paranormal books. His Into the Basement novel is about abduction, torture and murder. He also wrote Blood Bar, which is about vampires and a different kind of club. Into the Spell, his third novel is a hypnosis paranormal thriller, you know, the darkside of the occult.

Norm’s latest novel is First To Die, a vampire adventure not for vegetarians. It’s a bit more violent and juicy than his other books, but there is a sliver of breathing room. Expect a lot of violence, knives, pain, carve in, carve out. Kim Bennett is a bent woman.

Norm is a Mac Fanatic. Smooth Jazz enthusiast. Drummer. Horror Movie Fan.

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…Book reading in progress by this book faery. Review to be posted soon…

“On a sunny Wednesday morning in October, a day that would mark the end of one life and the beginning of another, I found out my grouchy next door neighbor was the walking dead. When you turn around expecting to see something familiar, and instead see something else altogether, it takes a little while for your brain to catch up with your eyes. I call it the ‘Holy Crap Factor.’”

Forced to flee his home and family, twelve-year-old Will Ritter falls in with the Undertakers-a rag-tag army of teenage resistance fighters who’ve banded together to battle the Corpses.

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky (April 1, 2011)

Feeding on Books, Not Brains
Writer Ty Drago launched his new middle-grade series, The Undertakers, with an event at Children’s Book World in Haverford, Pa. The first book in the series, Rise of the Corpses, is out this month from Sourcebooks Jabberwocky. The event featured “appearances” by the young hero of the series, Will Ritter, as well as the zombie villains of the first two books—Kenny Booth (l.) and Lilith Cavanaugh, seen here taking a break from wanton destruction to do a little reading.

(From the April 14 Publishers Weekly Children’s Bookshelf)

Ty Drago is an author, husband, father, and a born Quaker who has lived in New Jersey almost his entire life. He is the editor/publisher of Allegory, an online magazine of science fiction, fantasy and horror. He has also had short fiction published inSpace and Time Magazine and Fortress Publishing’s YESTERDAY I WILLanthology. Many years ago, Ty attended a book signing by Isaac Asimov. When Dr. Asimov learned that Drago was a struggling young SF writer, he penned the following: “To Ty: Please keep trying. Isaac Asimov.” And he did.

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…

We’re giving away X copy of The Undertakers: The Rise of the Corpses to one lucky reader of The Book Faery Reviews.
This giveaway runs now until 11:59pm ET on May 31st, 2011.
A winner is randomly selected using the ‘And The Winner Is’ WordPress plugin.

MANDATORY GIVEAWAY ENTRY…Leave a comment on this post telling us what you you’ve heard about Zombies from history or fiction… (This must be answered first for all other entries to count.)

EXTRA ENTRIES…(Be sure to leave a comment for each entry.)

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I entered 2 win The Undertakers from @farrah1230 of The Book Faery Reviews! http://ow.ly/4YOqc You can too! Pls RT! #giveaway

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Go to The Book Faery Reviews to enter to win The Undertakers book courtesy of Sourcebooks Jabberwocky!

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GIVEAWAY NOTIFICATION: The selected commentor will be noted within the comments at the end of the giveaway, Monthly Newsletter that goes out to all e-mail subscribers (subscribers also receive an RSS email for days there is a post), and on our new Facebook Page. You must either subscribe to these comments, check out the Facebook page, or read at least the Sunday email in order to find out if you are the winner as we will no longer be sending out individual emails to winners.

Good Luck!

A copy of the book was provided to me for review courtesy of Sourcebooks Jabberwocky.
No other compensation was received. All opinions expressed are of my own.

When little Alice follows the Black Rat down into the gaping darkness of an open grave, she falls and falls. And soon finds herself in an undead nightmare of rotting flesh and insanity. Venturing further into this land of zombies and monsters, she encounters characters both creepy and madcap along the way. But there’s something else troubling poor Alice: her skin is rotting and her hair is falling out. She’s cold. And she has the haunting feeling that if she remains in Zombieland any longer, she might never leave.

Can Alice escape Zombieland before the Dead Red Queen catches up to her?

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks (March 1, 2011)
• Language: English

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…What an ‘EFFING’ FUN and fast read! Nickolas Cook takes Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland  and throws Alice down the other hole to Zombieland! Who knew Alice could be in a land so much more thrilling once all are dead and dead cats find little girls delicious?! I had a blast reading out loud in the various character’s voices as this tale is retold. I may sound sick, but in my head, I kept going back and forth between the original version and this silly zombie version asking myself which scene I preferred and often it was Cook’s gory version. {Aaaand breathe, THAT was a long sentence…} Very entertaining. There was hardly a page that went by that I wasn’t satisfied this author’s twisted mind.  To add to the new changes in the story, the illustrations were just perfect for this book. Dark, gruesome, creepy, just perfect for this tale. Now if I could get a hard copy for my shelves to sit right next to the real Alice in Wonderland…

My Book Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

I ONLY received a copy for review. No compensation was provided for this post.
All opinions stated above are my own and in no way influenced by receiving a free book.

What Next?

Winners will be announced within the giveaway post comments, in the weekly Sunday re-cap newsletter, and on our new page in Facebook. Indiviual emails will NO LONGER go out for mailing addresses so PLEASE pay attention to one or all of the above mentioned. All unclaimed books will go back into future giveaways.

Oh and if you haven’t already, please be sure to “Like” us on Facebook! The “Like” box can be found in the right sidebar. Feel free to leave a note on The Book Faery Reviews wall too anytime! This is part of some of the new things happening for The Book Faery Reviews. The Facebook page will be used for multiple purposes (more to come later of course).

When children are victimized, emotions always run high, and this case has the public both outraged and terrified: a dangerous combination. Recently reinstated homicide lieutenant Taylor Jackson knows she has to act quickly, but tread carefully.

Exploring the baffling culture of mysticism and witchcraft, Taylor is immersed in a darkness that threatens to unbalance the order of her world, and learns how unchecked wrath can push a killer to his limits. - FROM B&N

• Pub. Date: October 2010
• Publisher: Mira
• Format: Mass Market Paperback , 389pp

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…J.T. Ellison is the bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Taylor Jackson series, with novels published in 21 countries. A former White House staffer, she moved to Nashville and began research on a passion: forensics and crime. She has worked extensively with the Metro Nashville Police, the FBI and various other law enforcement organizations to research her novels. Visit www.JTEllison.com or follow her on Twitter @Thrillerchick.

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…The Immortal came out this past October and while I had planned to read it during the season of Halloween, I ended up not getting to it until the Christmas season! Talk about getting my seasons mixed!

This just might be the perfect gift for that book lover who enjoys reading a good thriller and about the occult. The Immortal is part of the Taylor Jackson series and though I had never read the previous four books in the series, I don’t feel as if I was missing anything. In fact, right now I’m more interested in reading the other books in the series.

Thanks to Planned Television Arts, I’m giving away ONE copy of The Immortal to a lucky reader now through December 18th. (US/Canada addresses only, no PO boxes).

PLEASE NOTE CHANGE IN GIVEAWAY NOTIFICATION: The selected commentor will be noted within the comments at the end of the giveaway and within the Weekly Recap Newsletter that goes out on Sundays to all e-mail subscribers. You must either subscribe to these comments or the email in order to find out if you are the winner as we will no longer be sending out individual emails to winners.

MANDATORY GIVEAWAY ENTRY…Leave a comment telling me who you’d give this book to and why. (This must be answered first for all other entries to count.)

EXTRA ENTRIES…

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#Book #Giveaway – The Immortals by J.T. Ellison http://ow.ly/3mUU0 #tbfr RT@farrah1230

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