Spring Fling Giveaway Hop!

Spring Fling Giveaway Hop

May 1st – 7th

Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & Eve’s Fan Garden

Welcome to my stop on the Spring Fling Giveaway Hop! Be sure to check out the linky at the bottom of the post and enter more awesome giveaways!!

For my stop, I will be giving away a book of the winner's choice from the following selection:

  

* Please note that these are a mix of ARCs and finished copies. All are brand new and haven't been read. Click on the image to be taken to the Goodreads page. *

Rules:

1. Must be a resident of the US or have a US mailing address.

2. NO CHEATING! I check each entry and anyone caught cheating is immediately disqualified.

3. Must be a follower of my blog. All other entries are optional & great appreciated!

4. Winner will be contacted via email and will have 48 hours to reply before a different winner is chosen.

    

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Book Blast & Giveaway: Have No Shame by Melissa Foster

Have No Shame
Author: Melissa Foster
Genre: Historical Fiction
Release Date: May 6, 2013

Buy Link: Amazon

Description:
 
The racially-charged prejudice of the deep South forces eighteen-year-old Alison Tillman to confront societal norms—and her own beliefs—when she discovers the body of a hate crime victim, and the specter of forbidden love turns her safe, comfortable world upside down.

Alison has called Forrest Town, Arkansas home for the past eighteen years. Her mother’s Blue Bonnet meetings, her father toiling night and day on the family farm, and the division of life between the whites and the blacks are all Alison knows. The winter of 1967, just a few months before marrying her high school sweetheart, Alison finds the body of a black man floating in the river, and she begins to view her existence with new perspective. The oppression and hate of the south, the ugliness she once was able to avert her eyes from, now demands her attention.

When a secretive friendship with a young black man takes an unexpected romantic turn, Alison is forced to choose between her predetermined future, and the dangerous path that her heart yearns for.

HAVE NO SHAME is an emotionally compelling coming of age novel featuring a young woman who cannot reconcile the life she wants with the one she’s been brought up to live.Have No Shame will resonate with anyone who has ever fallen in love, and those who have been forced to choose between what they know in their hearts to be true, and what others would like them to believe.  

PRAISE FOR HAVE NO SHAME:

“A gripping and poignant novel dealing with a subject once taboo in American society.” Hagerstown Magazine

“Have No Shame is a powerful testimony to love and the progressive, logical evolution of social consciousness, with an outcome that readers will find engrossing, unexpected, and ultimately eye-opening.” Midwest Book Review

“A historical novel of love and its triumph, told with a unique and compelling voice.” Bestselling Author Kathleen Shoop

“Have No Shame is a delightful eye opener and a rather poignant book that everyone everywhere should put on their must-read list.” Readers’ Favorite

“A dynamic and heartwarming tale of young love, giving testament to those who struggled so we can live in an integrated society.” Author Rachelle Ayala

“…a stunningly impactful read.” Rabid Reader Reviews

“A book that brings the evilness of racial bigotry to light, through the eyes of one awakening to its reality.” Cindy Smith, avid reader

“[HAVE NO SHAME] Perfectly catches the South at the dawning of the Civil Rights Movement. Melissa Foster takes us on an adventure that twists and turns unpredictably to a tense climax that renders this novel a true page-turner. This is undoubtedly the best novel I have read in a long time.”  Roderick Craig Low, Author of ‘Promises of Love and Good Behaviour’

“This book is not just a story; it’s an experience.” Author G.E. Johnson

Melissa Foster is the award-winning author of four International bestselling novels. Her books have been recommended by USA Today’s book blog, Hagerstown Magazine, The Patriot, and several other print venues. She is the founder of the Women’s Nest, a social and support community for women, the World Literary Café. When she’s not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on Fostering Success. Melissa is also a community builder for the Alliance for Independent Authors. She has been published in Calgary’s Child Magazine, the Huffington Post, and Women Business Owners magazine.
Melissa hosts an annual Aspiring Authors contest for children and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Melissa lives in Maryland with her family.
Visit Melissa on The Women’s Nest, Fostering Success, or World Lit Cafe. Melissa enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups, and welcomes an invitation to your event.

Find Melissa Foster:

Facebook

Twitter

FB Fanpage

Amazon Author Page

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION:

1 Winner will receive a gift bag full of goodies, including:

-Snacks

- Signed copy of CHASING AMANDA

- Signed copy of COME BACK TO ME

- Signed Copy of MEGAN’S WAY

- 1 Pink Journal

Shipping in US Only, No PO Boxes. Must be 13+ To Enter

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Release Week Event & Giveaway: Spirit (Elemental #5) by Shauna Granger

Spirit (Elemental #5)

Author: Shauna Granger
Genre: YA/New Adult Urban Fantasy
Release Date: April 30, 2013
Publisher: Self-Published

Description:

Always careful to watch out for others, Shayna put too much trust her abilities to keep herself safe and has been cut down by crazed man. Now she is trapped in the land of the dead, watching as her two best friends suffer the consequences of her death; their powers are fading and soon they will too. Shayna is desperate to return to the land of the living to save them from a similar, cold fate. To save her friends Shayna must turn away from the Light and, in doing so, sacrifice her wings. 

But the longer Shayna stays among the dead, the further she slips from sanity. If Shayna cannot find her way back she will be condemned and lost forever among the restless souls of the dead. With nothing left to lose, she will do whatever it takes to fight her way back, with or without her wings. 

More than two hundred homes and two thousand square acres were destroyed in the fire. Two people were severely burned, but they survived. Amazingly, no one died. At least, that’s what the papers reported. They never found my body, and they looked for days. I know; I watched them search for me. I had always said I wanted to be cremated when I died, asking to have my ashes scattered at the roots of an old tree, but being burned alive was not what I had in mind.
My parents held my memorial outdoors, on the beach. Search and rescue told my parents it was too soon to be completely conclusive about my whereabouts, but after seeing the site where Jodi and Steven said I’d died, my parents came to the hard decision that I was, more than likely, gone.
A pack of surfers I had known since childhood paddled out to sea, each bearing a flower wreath. Once they were past the last break of waves, they cast the flowers into the ocean, letting the ebb and flow of Earth and sea take them. The beach was covered in black from mourners milling around, huddled against the winter bite in the breeze.
Deb had brought her entire coven to show their respects. Little Trisity clung to Deb’s hand while tears streamed down her face, her aura a pale gray obscuring her sweet face. Deb lifted her up and held her on her hip, letting Trisity cry into her shoulder as she made her way to my parents. Half the senior class had turned out in a wash of black, white, and gray; even a few teachers were in attendance. I had no idea so many people had known me. A huge, obnoxious picture of me stood on an easel, flowers littering the ground around it. Beside it, my surfboard stood, jammed in the sand.
Jodi and Steven received just as many hugs and whispered condolences as my parents. Their faces were dry of tears. Jodi looked hard and determined, as though an idea had taken root in her mind and she was unaware of her surroundings, whereas Steven looked distant, the fire in his eyes banked to cold embers. They accepted the hugs and nodded at the words, but otherwise they weren’t truly present. I felt Jodi’s uncontrolled magic, the sudden gusts of wind whipping her signature around, making the mourners cling to their coats and inch closer to each other.
Jensen was there, wrapped in a black peacoat and wearing a grey beanie pulled low over his ears. His hands were jammed into his coat pockets, and his tiny mother was next to him, her arm linked through the crook of Jensen’s elbow. I traced the line of his profile with my eyes, remembering the heat of his full, red lips and the sharp lines of his cheekbones under my fingers. An ache blossomed in my chest as I waited for him to turn toward me, let me see the stormy ocean of his eyes, but he never did.
I stood alone on the rocks, watching from a distance. I found when I came too close to those who had loved me in life, I stole what little peace they’d carved out for themselves. Any calm or happiness they had found would seep away, the color of their aura draining to gray. I was a wraith, bound to the shadows, trying to find my way home.
I had spent my time in the Ether, somewhere between the living and the dead, hiding and running from that which would take me from this plane. I’d seen the bright Light, the tunnel, felt
the inexplicable compulsion drawing me toward it. I felt the peace it offered. It felt like home. And I turned away from it.
It was strange, watching those people, so close to them but totally apart. Even at this distance, I saw Death’s next victims. Everyone was marked for death, but the closer they came to it, the darker the mark grew over their bodies. It was a cancer that made the soul rip away from the body. I saw lung cancer creeping up on my English teacher. In another year’s time, he would know about his diminishing chances of beating it. One of Deb’s sisters stood with the shadow of Death looming over her shoulder, ready to snatch her away in a few weeks when she stepped off that curb just fifteen seconds too soon because she was digging through her purse with her phone braced between her cheek and shoulder. I was so close and yet so far away. I couldn’t warn them though the words screamed in my mind. I felt the phantom weight of my wings on my back, but I knew they weren’t there. When I died and turned away from the Light, they were ripped violently away from me.
Thankfully, when I looked at my parents they were crystal clear, no shadow looming over them. In time, the grey of their auras would clear and resonate in the rainbow spectrum as they should. But when I looked at Jodi and Steven I saw the merest whisper of a shadow. It blurred against their gray auras, but when they moved I saw it and panic nearly strangled me. But what could I do?
I turned to Jodi and watched her face, seeing the peaches and cream complexion drained to pale anger. My fingers twitched with the desire to wave to her, get her attention, make her see me even though I knew it was futile. Steven had turned his back on the congregation, looking out to the sea that usually terrified him, but today nothing scared him, nothing moved him. I sighed even though I no longer breathed, and when I pulled my gaze off of the back of Steven’s head, remembering how soft the curl of his hair felt under my fingers, I looked into Jodi’s eyes.
For one heart stopping moment, she stared right back at me.
Her pale blue eyes didn’t blink, the line of her mouth pressed hard and angry. I started to open my mouth to call out to her, but before I could, I heard the crunch of rocks behind me, making me break our eye contact. I spun around and saw the angel terrifyingly close to me.
“Shayna,” he whispered, his voice carried on Jodi’s wind, gusting now in frantic confusion.
“No!” I yelled, jumping from the rocks. I took off running, faster than I ever could in life. I prayed for my wings, willed them into existence, but the pain never came and my back remained whole and unmarred. I heard the thunder clap behind me, reverberating as his wings erupted just before he took flight, chasing me.
Fear ripped through me, threatening to trip me up. I felt the Heavens opening behind me, the warm light pressing against my back, growing warmer the closer the angel’s outstretched hand got to me. I closed my eyes and drew in the shadows of the rocks around me, turned on the spot, and let my body fall. The shadows wrapped around me and pulled me through the cosmos just as the tips of the angel’s fingers touched my sweater.
  

Like so many other writers, Shauna grew up as an avid reader, but it was in high school that she realized she wanted to be a writer. Five years ago, Shauna started work on her Elemental Series. She released the first installment, Earth, on May 1, 2011 and has since released four sequels, with the series coming to an end with Spirit. She is currently hard at work on a new Urban Fantasy series, staring a spunky witch with a smush-faced cat named Artemis. 

Author Social Media Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorShaunaGranger
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dyingechoes
Blogs: shaunasspot.blogspot.com and spellboundscribes.wordpress.com 
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4828875.Shauna_Granger

Giveaway: (1) ebook copy of winner's choice in the Elemental Series: EARTH, AIR, WATER, FIRE, or SPIRIT. Open Internationally!

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Cover Reveal: Beauty From Surrender by Georgia Cates

 

Beauty from Surrender (Beauty #2)

Author: Georgia Cates

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

Cover Designer: Georgia Cates

Expected Release Date: May 30, 2013

   

Description:
 
The story of Jack Henry and Laurelyn continues... How do you move on when he’s every song you sing? After Laurelyn Prescott walks away from the love of her life, she returns to Nashville to pursue the only dream she has left. Determined to find a distraction from the pain of losing Jack Henry, she immerses herself in her music. But with her old life comes old acquaintances and new expectations. When Laurelyn refuses her record producer’s outrageous demands, she finds herself without a career—until an unforeseen opportunity presents itself. From there it’s a rocket ride straight to the top where Laurelyn finds the success she’s always dreamed of. Will it be enough to bring her the happiness she so deserves, or will the absence of Jack Henry leave her wanting more? Jack Henry McLachlan never expected to fall in love with Laurelyn Prescott—but he did. After he foolishly let her slip through his fingers, he spends three months searching for her, but their reunion doesn’t come easy. The woman he finds isn’t the same one who drifted away without a goodbye. No longer an insecure girl on an Australian adventure, this Laurelyn is a successful musician with a promising career. Her dreams are becoming a reality, and Jack is terrified his American girl won’t have a place for him in her new life. With only a month to convince her otherwise, will it be enough time to make her visualize a life beyond the glitz and glamour, a life that includes him?    

 
Georgia resides in rural Mississippi with her wonderful husband, Jeff, and their two beautiful daughters. She spent fourteen years as a labor and delivery nurse before deciding to pursue her dream of becoming an author. Despite the struggle, she has no regrets in her decision to try this crazy life. She can honestly say that she’s living the dream. 

Blog | Facebook | Twitter

What do you think of the cover? Leave a comment!

 

 

Echo Blog Tour: Excerpt & Giveaway

Echo
Author: Alicia Wright Brewster
Genre: YA Fantasy/Dystopian
Release Date: April 25, 2013

Description:

The countdown clock reads ten days until the end of the world. The citizens are organized. Everyone's been notified and assigned a duty. The problem is . . . no one knows for sure how it will end.

Energy-hungry Mages are the most likely culprit. They travel toward a single location from every corner of the continent. Fueled by the two suns, each Mage holds the power of an element: air, earth, fire, metal, water, or ether. They harness their powers to draw energy from the most readily available resource: humans.

Ashara has been assigned to the Ethereal task force, made up of human ether manipulators and directed by Loken, a young man with whom she has a complicated past. Loken and Ashara bond over a common goal: to stop the Mages from occupying their home and gaining more energy than they can contain. But soon, they begin to suspect that the future of the world may depend on Ashara's death. 

I slowed as I reached the fence surrounding my home cluster. Instinctively, my face turned upward and to the north—to the numbers of the countdown clock that glowed above, stark white over the sky’s deep blue. I was too early for my morning transport. It wouldn’t be here for another hour, if it was coming at all—if I was still welcome on the Ethereal task force.
I needed a ride to the Council now. Making the trip on foot was impossible; it was way too far. If I were a Breather, I could get there in no time . . . Luckily, I knew a Breather.
I unclasped the comm unit from my waistband and raised the speaker to my lips. “Contact Rey.”
“Command confirmed,” came a pleasant female voice in response. After several more seconds, it added, “Rey is not available.”
“Try him again!”
“Command confirmed.”
Several more seconds and then Rey’s sluggish voice came through the speaker. “Ash? What’s wrong? Where are you?”
“I’m at the cluster fence. I need a ride to the Council.”
He paused. I imagined him checking the time on his comm. “You’re an hour early. The transport will be there in plenty of time to get us to training.”
“I don’t want to wait for the transport.”
No answer.
“Rey!”
“What, what?”
“Wake up. I need to leave now.” Then it occurred to me that, unlike me, Rey probably hadn’t been sent packing when the Mages escaped yesterday. “Hey, do you know what happened to the escapees?”
“We couldn’t find the other two.” The panic that had tinged his voice when he first answered had subsided. Most likely, he’d determined that whatever I needed wasn’t urgent after all.
“What do you mean you couldn’t find them?” I asked.
“Weren’t you there?”
“No.” My jaw tightened. “Loken sent me home.”
He muffled a chuckle—poorly. “That’s what you get for having your boyfriend as a group leader.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“The way you two make eyes at each other whenever the other one’s not looking, I’m not sure why you bothered breaking up.”
“It wasn’t my choice, remember? Your friend is a stubborn, irrational jackass who thinks he can’t do his all-important job if he has actual emotions. You know what he did yesterday? He made me—”
“Do I really need to hear this? Don’t you have any girlfriends you can rant to?”
“They’re all still asleep.”
“So am I,” he growled. 

Alicia Wright Brewster is a mild-mannered lady of average height and above average paranormal obsession. By day, she works in an office. At night she is an author, an electronics junkie, and a secret superhero. (Please don't ask what her superpower is; that's not very polite.)

In her virtually non-existent free time, she loves to read, watch movies, and eat food. She is particularly fond of the food-eating and makes a point to perform this task at least three times per day, usually more.

Website: http://www.aliciawb.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aliciawrightbrewster

Twitter: https://twitter.com/aliciawbrewster

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Release Day Launch & Giveaway: Wrecked (Clayton Falls #3) by Alyssa Rose Ivy

Wrecked (Clayton Falls #3)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

Description:

When your past catches up, it's time to stop running.

Jake Mathews messed up yet again— but this time his misstep lands him in the hospital. He wakes up to find the girl of his dreams and the memory of having his deepest secret revealed.

Emily Taylor needs a break. She's been working double shifts as a nurse just to pay the bills while trying to heal a broken heart. The last thing she needs is to fall for a patient.

Strapped with community service and the knowledge that he's disappointed everyone in his life, Jake is determined not to let Emily slip through his fingers. Emily wants Jake, but can she really open herself up to heartache again?

Alyssa Rose Ivy is a Young Adult and New Adult author who loves to weave stories with romance and a southern setting. Although raised in the New York area, she fell in love with the South after moving to New Orleans for college. After years as a perpetual student, she turned back to her creative side and decided to write. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and two young children, and she can usually be found with a cup of coffee in her hand.

Links:

Website: http://www.alyssaroseivy.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlyssaRoseIvy
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlyssaRoseIvy
WRECKED Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16208128-wrecked
Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5047249.Alyssa_Rose_Ivy

  
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Book Blitz & Giveaway: Siege by Rhiannon Frater

Siege (As the World Dies #3)
Author: Rhiannon Frater
Genre: Adult Horror
Release Date: April 30, 2013
Publisher: Tor Books

Description:

Siege is the conclusion to Rhiannon Frater’s As the World Dies trilogy, which should appeal to fans of The Walking Dead. Both The First Days and Fighting to Survive won the Dead Letter Award from Mail Order Zombie. The First Days was named one of the Best Zombie Books of the Decade by the Harrisburg Book Examiner.

The zombie illness has shattered civilization. The survivors who have found tenuous safety in Texas defend their fort against the walking dead and living bandits.

Katie has made peace with the death of her wife and is pregnant and married to Travis, who has been elected Mayor. Jenni, her stepson, Jason; and Juan—Travis’s righthand man—are a happy family, though Jenni suffers from PTSD. Both women are deadly zombie killers. In Siege, the people of Ashley Oaks are stunned to discover that the vice president of the United States is alive and commanding the remnants of the US military. What’s left of the US government has plans for this group of determined survivors.  

Let Me Frighten You

By Rhiannon Frater 

I am inspired and intrigued by what frightens me. Writing about what I fear compels me to step outside my comfort zone and forces me to confront issues and themes that are not always easy to discuss. Creating an imaginary world where terrible things happen to fictional characters is an easier (and safer) way to deal with issues we must all face at some time in our lives such as loss of loved ones, overcoming adversity, and evolving in the face of hardship. But it also allows me as a writer to also delve into much more frightening and rare occurrences such as war, natural disasters, and apocalyptic scenarios.

When I sat down to write the AS THE WORLD DIES zombie trilogy, I wanted to address the zombie apocalypse in a realistic manner. Though the scenario of the dead wandering the earth and eating the living is highly unrealistic, I wanted the characters of the story to be everyday people who somehow manage to live past the first terrifying days of the plague. I didn’t want any Rambos or Ripleys in the mix. I wanted people who would resemble me and the reader.

Within each character in AS THE WORLD DIES there is familiarity. The characters are people we know or maybe even aspect of ourselves. They all have different strengths and weaknesses, personality flaws, and issues to overcome. Because I wanted my characters to be everyday folks, their reactions to their terrible circumstances are grounded in reality.

For example, Jenni is a battered housewife/trophy wife at the beginning of the first book in the trilogy, THE FIRST DAYS. After the devastating death of her children, Jenni is rescued by Katie. At first she is in shock, but slowly evolves throughout the series into a much stronger (yet not always stable) person. To make Jenni realistic, I drew on the coping mechanisms victims in abusive situations develop. The mind is amazing in its capacity to adapt to dire circumstances in order to ensure survival. Jenni’s ability to basically cut off her emotions and compartmentalize allows her to survive better than people who have yet to develop these coping skills. Also, Jenni is extremely used to living in a life-threatening situation on a daily basis, so the zombocalypse is not much different in some respects. Though sometimes readers get mad at Jenni for her immaturity (she was married at 17 and isolated from the world by her husband) and her bizarre actions, she remains one of the most popular, if not the most popular, character in the series.

Oftentimes readers of the series tell me how the characters in the book feel like friends. They worry about them, fear for them, and sometimes mourn them. I have also been told how readers feel so attached to the world and the characters they feel like they are in the action. I contribute this to the fact that they characters feel like people we know in our everyday lives, it is easy to slip into the dangerous world of AS THE WORLD DIES with them.

Though I love superheroes and magical/supernatural characters, in the end they are far removed from me with their abilities. I know I can’t do the things they can do. But I can easily imagine myself on a rescue run with Jenni and Katie, clutching a gun, sweating with anxiety, and feeling sick to my stomach with fear. Somehow this translates to the reader as well. I’ve heard so many stories of people having to put the book aside so their wildly beating heart could calm down. Honestly, I’ve stopped typing for the same reason.

There is a certain magic that sometimes happens in books that is hard for the author to explain to the reader, but after a lot of thought I do believe the reason why my books can be so terrifying is because the characters are not so far removed from you and me.

So when a zombie is moving relentlessly toward a character in SIEGE, the fast beating of your heart and the tremor of fear flitting through your mind is probably because you could be character facing uncertain outcome.

Now the question is…do you survive?

Rhiannon Frater is the award-winning author of the As the World Dies trilogy (The First Days, Fighting to Survive, Siege,) and the author of three other books: the vampire novels Pretty When She Dies and The Tale of the Vampire Bride and the young-adult zombie novel The Living Dead Boy and the Zombie Hunters. Inspired to independently produce her work from the urging of her fans, she published The First Days in late 2008 and quickly gathered a cult following. She won the Dead Letter Award back-to-back for both The First Days and Fighting to Survive, the former of which the Harrisburg Book Examiner called ‘one of the best zombie books of the decade.’ Rhiannon is currently represented by Hannah Gordon of the Foundry + Literary Media agency. You may contact her by sending an email to rhiannonfrater@gmail.com. 

Author Links:

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Book Links:
Book 1 Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/9648068-the-first-days

Book 2 Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6350211-fighting-to-survive

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0765366843?ie=UTF8&tag=httpwwwgoodco-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0765366843&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/siege-rhiannon-frater/1104154798?ean=9780765366849&itm=1&usri=9780765366849

 Giveaway: (1) winner will get the entire trilogy in paperback - Open to US/CAN only!

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Book Blitz & Giveaway: Debt Collector by Susan Kaye Quinn

Debt Collector (Debt Collector Serial #1-3)
Author: Susan Kaye Quinn
Release Date: 2013
Genre: New Adult Future-Noir

Description:

EPISODES 1-3 (Delirium, Agony, Ecstasy) of the Debt Collector serial. Contains mature content and themes. For young-adult-appropriate thrills, see Susan's bestselling Mindjack series.

What's your life worth on the open market?
A debt collector can tell you precisely.

Lirium plays the part of the grim reaper well, with his dark trenchcoat, jackboots, and the black marks on his soul that every debt collector carries. He's just in it for his cut, the ten percent of the life energy he collects before he transfers it on to the high potentials, the people who will make the world a better place with their brains, their work, and their lives. That hit of life energy, a bottle of vodka, and a visit from one of Madam Anastazja's sex workers keep him alive, stable, and mostly sane... until he collects again. But when his recovery ritual is disrupted by a sex worker who isn't what she seems, he has to choose between doing an illegal hit for a girl whose story has more holes than his soul or facing the bottle alone--a dark pit he's not sure he'll be able to climb out of again.

The first three episodes of the Debt Collector serial are collectively the length of a short novel, or 152 pages. These are the first three of nine episodes in the first season of The Debt Collector serial. This dark and gritty future-noir is about a world where your life-worth is tabulated on the open market and going into debt risks a lot more than your credit rating. Episode 4, Broken, releases 4/17/13. For more about the Debt Collector serial, see DebtCollectorSeries.com 

The shakes have mostly settled out, but I still take care not to spill as I fill all three shot glasses with pure Polish wódka, neat. The bottle wasn’t expensive, but it’s a step up from the stuff at the local liquor stop, which is only one shade away from rubbing alcohol and almost as deadly. Moe, Larry, and Curly stare at me from the glasses, their faces fixed forever in an approving smirk, a disgusted frown, and a wide-eyed dumbfounded look of shock, respectively. All three are apt reactions to my life, my profession, and the ritual the four of us are engaging in once again.
“Hello boys.” I salute them. “Made it home without losing my breakfast.” They’re still judging me with their looks, so I pick up Larry’s shot, throw it back, and slam it down, his look of frozen disgust turned away. The vodka burns, and I cough even though I expect it. The ten percent still buzzes inside me, and I know the life force is kicking against the alcoholic onslaught carving a liquid path of happy through my system.
I’ve already placed my order with Madam Anastazja for one of her high-end sex workers who cater to collectors. No familiar faces, I added online this time. It’s easier to get lost in a girl when I don’t know her face, yet. Lost is where I need to be right now, and I have just the recipe to get there. Wait till the nausea passes. Get a hot shower and a change of clothes. Stow my trenchcoat in the closet by the door until I need to dress the part of Death again. Do three shots with the boys to get me started, then spend an hour of tangled limbs and ecstasy in the sheets with the girl. Finally, split the rest of the bottle until we’re both so stupid drunk we don’t remember any of it.
It’s my routine, it makes me forget the spook and the fresh black mark on my soul, and I don’t mess with it. The next day, I’m back to normal, on the sort of even-keel that gets me through the day and the night and the day after that. Until I collect again.
Plus it saves me from drinking the entire bottle alone.

Susan Kaye Quinn grew up in California, where she wrote snippets of stories and passed them to her friends during class. Her teachers pretended not to notice and only confiscated her stories a couple times.

Susan left writing behind to pursue a bunch of engineering degrees, but she was drawn back to writing by an irresistible urge to share her stories with her niece, her kids, and all the wonderful friends she’s met along the way.

She doesn’t have to sneak her notes anymore, which is too bad.

Susan writes from the Chicago suburbs with her three boys, two cats, and one husband. Which, it turns out, is exactly as a much as she can handle.

Author Links:

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Buy Links:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble  

Giveaway: (1) ebook copy of Delirium (Debt Collector Episode #1) - Open Internationally!

 

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Grand Prize Giveaway: Kindle + Debt Collector 1-3 ebook (US only)

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