Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Waking Up With A Stranger...

Or, to put it less salaciously, waking up to find my story STRANGER AT THE HELL GATE (The Wild Rose Press, 2013) available on Amazon. J

Last week, I finally got the news I'd been eagerly anticipating: STRANGER AT THE HELL GATE was set for release on July 10, 2013. After working with Callie Lynn Wolfe for several months, we finally had the date as well as the approved galley. It was a great achievement and I couldn't wait to share the announcement.

A heavy work schedule put me off several days from hitting the Internet, though. When I finally had a moment to do it, though, there was another email waiting for me.

STRANGER would go up on KDP Select first. And it would be up in a few days.

All my plans were tossed up into the air. So much for my leisurely announcement--now it was a completely crazy situation. What's an author to do? 
Practical as I occasionally am, I wrote my post for the Query Tracker blog (aptly focusing on the KDP and my emergent situation). Then, it was a matter of sit and wait. 
Well, the wait wasn't much of a wait after all. 
My STRANGER has arrived.
STRANGER AT THE HELL GATE
by Ash Krafton

Jagger Sintallon, a half-demon warrior, has dedicated his existence to fighting demons who enter the world through Hell gates. A loner of conflicting ideals, he offers shelter to a troubled woman but knows he is too rough, too dangerous, and too cocky for her delicate nature.
Dedicated to Divine Will, Sonya Camael, a Seraph, is determined to discover why she is drawn to Jagger's doorstep and the reason behind her mission. She needs the demon's help but fears he may get himself killed before she can figure it out and the world slips into Hell's dominion.
Sonya faces grave danger with evil stalking her every move, and Jagger shouldn't care but realizes he cares more than he'd likely admit. Sonya knows Jagger cannot win this war alone, but will her divine intervention mean his imminent end? Or will just the right combination of Heaven and Hell set the world right once again?

This is my first release with The Wild Rose Press. I'm thrilled to be a part of their garden--and proud to be included in their Black Rose line. Thank you, Editor Callie and thank you to all the readers who take my STRANGER home with them.

Monday, March 25, 2013

Cover Reveal: Secret for a Song by Adriana Ryan

Be sure to check out "Adriana Ryan" 
better known as SK Falls
as well as the rest of the Infinite Ink Authors!
(And if you wonder who AJ Krafton is, well,
that's just me on a good day *wink*)

~~~
The Demimonde is thrilled to welcome back our friend, Adriana Ryan. She'd like to share the cover of her upcoming release with us. SECRET FOR A SONG will be released early June 2013. Cue the trumpets...

SECRET FOR A SONG by Adriana Ryan


<iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=ashkraautofth-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1490346015&asins=1490346015&linkId=OX3NPS5HSFVGUUGH&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"> Saylor Grayson makes herself sick. Literally.

She  ate her first needle when she was seven. Now, at nineteen, she’s been kicked out of college for poisoning herself with laxatives. The shrinks call it Munchausen Syndrome. All Saylor knows is that when she’s ill, her normally distant mother pays attention and the doctors and nurses make her feel special.

Then she meets Drew Dean, the leader of a local support group for those with terminal diseases. When he mistakes her for a new member, Saylor knows she should correct him. But she can’t bring herself to, not after she’s welcomed into a new circle of friends. Friends who, like Drew, all have illnesses ready to claim their independence or their lives.

For the first time, Saylor finds out what it feels like to be in love, to have friends who genuinely care about her.  But secrets have a way of revealing themselves. What will happen when Saylor’s is out?




 
ADRIANA RYAN
Bio: A huge fan of spooky stuff and shoes, Adriana Ryan enjoys alternately hitting up the outlet malls and historic graveyards in Charleston, SC where she lives and imbibes coffee. Her husband and two small children seem not to mind when she hastily scribbles novel lines on stray limbs in the absence of notepads.

 
FIND HER AND LET HER KNOW SHE IS REALLY DOING SOMETHING RIGHT.
:)
 
Website   Facebook   Twitter   Goodreads


Be sure to check out "Adriana Ryan" better known as SK Falls
as well as the rest of the Infinite Ink Authors!
(And if you wonder who AJ Krafton is, well,
that's just me on a good day *wink*)

 

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

A Prescription for Delerium by Noree Cosper


Noree Cosper is visiting the Demimonde blog today to share her newest release A PRESCRIPTION FOR DELIRIUM (VAN HELSING ORGANIZATION #1).

We've got TWO posts to share with you for her stop on her book tour.

Thank you to Noree for sharing an excerpt and offering a copy of her book to a lucky reader who leaves a comment on either this post or at her GUEST BLOG POST!

A Prescription for Delirium
(Van Helsing Organization #1)
 
Ninety years ago, Gabriella di Luca promised to protect the family of her dying lover. She failed to keep that promise. She was too far away to stop the devil that murdered the eldest Van Helsing son. Years later, Gabby learns the devil has resurfaced. She arrives in Hampton, TX, determined to stop the devil before it can lay a bloody hand on the remaining three brothers.
 
However, madness is spreading through Hampton. She suspects the devil is using this madness to test a drug which has a side effect of demonic possession. Gabby rushes to end the source of the madness only to fall victim to it. For a woman cursed with eternal life, dying is no threat. However, Gabby must stop the devil’s plot or risk losing her most precious possession: her mind.
 
 

READ THE EXCERPT!
CHAPTER ONE
Hampton, TX, Present Day
Not five minutes in this backwater town and I had a demon sniffing my trail. He
scanned the room with the nostrils of his wide nose flaring. His hair lay plastered
against his forehead in greasy brown locks. He towered over everyone, even the people
standing, as he squeezed between the large round tables and the gathering at the bar.
The frayed threads of his jeans and his leather vest matched the dress of the rest of the
roadhouse.
I lifted my drink to my mouth and shifted to my second sight. Most people say the
eyes are the windows to the soul. Those people can’t see auras. The lights on the walls
dimmed, and the air took on a gray haze, like seeing things under water. Colors
bloomed out from each human in the building, blending together in a rainbow. The
demon was another matter.
The shaggy black dog the size of a pony stood semi-imposed on all fours over
the form of the man. Flames blazed from its eyes as it scanned the room. Was there
really a dog walking through a busy Texas bar? No. Demons had no corporeal form and
had to possess physical bodies. This one chose a werewolf. Dio, I had a hellhound on
my ass.
Talk about bad timing. Ose already had some of his minions patrolling. If it found
me, it would go running to its master to let him know I was in town. My hunt was in
danger of ending before it even started.
Breathe, Gabby.
I leaned forward and let my black curtain of hair obscure my face. The lid of the
salt shaker twisted off in my empty hand and I knocked it over, allowing the grains to
spill on the floor. The salt should cover my scent. I slid closer to the group at the next
table until I looked like I belonged with them.
One of the men grinned at me, his aura a happy yellow orange. “Hey babe.”
I nodded and raised my glass, but kept my gaze on the hellhound. He paused at
a man at the bar who had caught my attention, or more his aura did. A ghostly image of
a woman leaned over him, whispering in his ear. My hand tightened around the beer
mug, but the mutt moved on. I relaxed. The colors around the people in the bar faded,
as did the ghost woman when my sight returned to normal. The haze remained, more
from cigarette smoke. I turned my head to the front of the bar. One window and one
door were not much of an escape route. Fifty feet of inebriated patrons stood between
me and freedom.
Two of the three men I had been waiting for walked through the door. A familiar
tingle ran down my spine. For a moment, I flashed back to a dressing room, staring
down another Romanian hunter. We’d come across the same prey, though he thought it
was a vampire. I inhaled, bringing myself back to the present. This wasn’t the twenties, I
wasn’t in Paris, and these brothers weren’t Dimitri.
Both had his chiseled features and his straight nose, though their hair was more
of a burnt sienna. The one in front wore his cut short and had a tuft on his chin. He
towered over his brother, which meant he would be a mountain compared to my small
height. The other kept his hair tucked behind his ears. He stood with his arms crossed,
wearing a smirk to let the world know he knew everything.
They cast their eyes over the room. The tall one adjusted the glasses on his face
and approached the man sitting at the bar. Several women watched them as they
passed. A smile touched my lips. The boys knew how to dress to make an impression.
Their leather coats and slacks spoke of sophistication yet still provided enough flexibility
to move if needed.
I stood and nodded at the boys who’d been trying to talk to me. Rude, but it was
time to work. Besides, they were too young for me. I straightened my red tank top and
brushed any wrinkles from my jeans. I couldn’t approach them looking like a
guttersnipe. A stool opened up on the other side of them. I took the seat and tried to
look casual while listening in on the brothers’ conversation. The bartender stood in front
of me, waiting for an order.
I pointed to a beer and leaned back to get a better look at the third man. His back
remained mostly to me, giving me a glimpse of his bearded cheek and a ponytail a
shade darker in color than the other two. Brother number three. I inched forward to hear
better over someone’s bad rendition of “Bad Moon Rising.”
“Ader.” The tall man spoke in Romanian. “Your prison sentence hasn’t ended
yet.”
“I got out for being brilliant,” the man at the bar said without turning around.
“Does the warden know that?” the third one asked.
If I remembered correctly, this generation of Van Helsings had four boys. Adam,
the oldest, had passed away ten years ago. So that left Esais, Adrian, and Tres. The
smirking boy had to be Tres he looked the youngest. Was Ader short for Adrian?
Ader chuckled. “The warden didn’t have much of a say.”
Esais, the tall one, pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. He shook
his head, letting out a long sigh as he looked at his brothers.
“Honestly,” he said. “First you end up in jail, and now you’re breaking out. You
haven’t changed.”
“You expected me to?” Adrian asked.
"Why are you here?” Esais asked.
“Same reason as you. Revenge.”
Tres crossed his arms. “Why do you even care? You were never around when
we needed you.”
Adrian turned to face his brothers, causing both of them to gasp. A patch covered
his right eye while the other stared hard at Tres. Esais reached out to touch Adrian’s
arm, but he pulled away.
“What happened?” Esais asked.
“Not important.” Adrian turned back to the bar. “Who were you told to meet?”
“A woman named Gabriella Di Luca.”
“Any idea what this woman looks like?”
Esais glanced in my direction with hesitation and opened his mouth.
I cleared my throat, raising my hand in a small wave. “Buna seara.”
Adrian and Tres turned their heads with near identical expressions of distrust.
They didn’t expect someone to speak their native language here. I was a stranger
invading their family circle.

“Who are you?” Adrian asked.
“Gabriella.”
“Convenient.” The word dripped with sarcasm.
We didn’t have time for this. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. My gaze
traveled to the table-filled area further in the room. The hellhound’s wiry form had
disappeared through a large door to the right. The atrocious singing wafted through
there. This would be a perfect time to exit.
“We need to speak, but not here,” I said.
“We’re not going anywhere with you.”
“Ader,” Esais said.
Adrian looked back at his brother. “We have no proof she is who she claims to
be.”
“He’s right. You could be a demon,” Tres said.
“Then you already revealed yourselves with your conversation,” I said. “Look,
how much do you know of demons?”
“I’ve read several books on the subject,” Esais said. “That question doesn’t
answer our doubts.”
“Do I fit the description you were given?”
Esais adjusted his glasses before nodding.
“Then, can we leave? I may not be one, but there is a demon here.”
Two turned their heads, their muscles tensing as they scanned the bar while
Adrian kept his eye on me. The hellhound stepped back into the room and turned his
head in my direction. His gaze locked on me, and he began shoving his way through the
crowded tables and chairs.
I stood. “Too late.”
 
Noree Cosper
Noree Cosper loves writing about magic in the modern world. While growing up in Texas she constantly searched for mystical elements in the mundane. She buried her nose in both fiction and books about Wicca, Religion, and Mythology. Everyday became an adventure as she joined a group of role-players, acting out her fantasies of vampires, demons, and monsters living in the world. She embraced her nerdom wholeheartedly. Noree grew, but never left her love for fantasy and horror. Her dreams pushed her and her hand itched to write the visions she saw. So, with her fingers on the keys, she did what her heart had been telling her to do since childhood. She wrote.
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THE GIVEAWAY!


Want to win a copy of Cosper's book? Just leave a comment with your email address and we'll pick a winner on April 5th. If you are inspired, tell us: if you were Van Helsing, what creature would pose the greatest challenge for you? Tell us your secret foe!
 
 
Also, be sure to visit the DARK WORLD BOOKS page for another super giveaway -- a print copy and swag attack...
 
 
FOLLOW NOREE COSPER ON HER BOOK TOUR!

A Prescription for Delirium Tour schedule:
 



Guest Post: Noree Cosper & A Prescription for Delerium




In this additional post by Noree Cosper (who is visiting the Demimonde blog to share her newest release A PRESCRIPTION FOR DELIRIUM :VAN HELSING ORGANIZATION #1 today) we are going to hear about one of my favorite villains of vampire folklore. Enjoy!

Thank you to Noree for sharing this guest post and offering a copy of her book to a lucky reader who leaves a comment on either this post or on her EXCERPT POST!

Take it away, Noree...

Bram Stoker used several figures in history as inspiration for his Dracula. One of them was Elizabeth Bathory. She was a Hungarian (some say Slavic) countess who tortured and murders numerous young women. Because of this she is considered one of the “true” vampires in history.

She was born to George and Anna Bathory in 1560 and raised on the family estate At Ecsed in Transylvania. She married Count Ferenc Nadasdy when she was 15 and moved to his Castle Sarvar. Her husband was a soldier and was away for long periods of time, leaving Elizabeth to run the Castle. This is where her atrocities started, with the punishing of the servant girls.

This wasn’t just a whipping like others of her time. No, Elizabeth devised especially creative ways to hurt young women and took great pleasure from it. She would stick pins under body parts, such as underneath their fingernails. In the winter she would have them stripped naked, led out into the snow, and doused with water until they were frozen. Sometimes her husband even joined in, helping devise new forms of torture. That is until he died.

After his death she found new cohorts in Anna Darvuilia and Erzsi Majorova. Majorova turned out to be Bathory’s downfall, as it was her idea to include women of noble birth when Bathory started to run out of serving girls. You see, word had spread and Bathory was having a hard time hiring new victims, er “help”.

Around 1610, an inquiry began due to rumors of the atrocities Bathory had committed. This was actually for political reasons. The crown wanted to confiscate her land holding and escape paying a large debt they’d owned her husband. In 1611, Bathory was placed on trial. A register was found in her living quarters that had the names of over 650 victims. Her accomplices were executed and Bathory was imprisoned in her castle for the rest of her life. That turned out to be only three years later when she died December, 1614.

Most of this was sealed by public officials as her activities could be described as scandalous at best. I mean, how did this make the rest of the Hungarian nobility look? However, that did not stop word from spreading. The stories that started were enough to keep small children up at night. Supposedly, a servant was brushing Bathory’s hair and tugged to hard. Bathory hit her hard enough to splash blood on her hand. The Countess believed that it made her skin look younger. So, she began to bathe in the blood of young girls to keep her youthful appearance. You can see how many, Stoker included, would think she was a vampire. Be careful ladies, Countess Bathory may steal you away in the night and use your lifeblood to keep herself young. Of course you can always turn to the descendant of Abraham Van Helsing in A Prescription for Delirium.  They’re all too happy to take care of that vampire problem for you.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

W!N A Blood Rush ARC on Goodreads!

We are getting closer and closer to May 14, the release day for Blood Rush (Demimonde #2).

You can win an advanced reader copy by entering my Goodreads giveaway!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Blood Rush by Ash Krafton

Blood Rush

by Ash Krafton

Giveaway ends March 19, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Enter to win


Blood Rush has already gotten it's first review...a whopping FIVE STARS, too. If you stop by to read it, you will see why I spend the entire day dancing like a loon whether anyone was looking or not. I was elated.

Don't have time to read the whole thing? Here's the sweet spot...

"Fast paced, well-written, with a very satisfying blend of realistic romantic entanglements, intrigue, betrayals and some great surprises, I loved this book..."
--Sarah Jordan

Stop by for your chance to win and good luck! I'm looking forward to seeing you on Goodreads...

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Cover Reveal: Ash-Eater's Fugue, Anno 2021 by Kim Koning

I'm proud to once again welcome KIM KONING to the Demimonde blog! She's revealing the cover of her newest project, ASH-EATER'S FUGUE, ANNO 2021. Just look at that haunting image...


Ash-Eater’s Fugue, Anno 2021
(The Firebird’s Requiem #1)
A sleeping town is pulled out of the night into a fiery world of chaos. Do they know that fire cleanses the damned soul?
Rejected by her parents at birth and raised by the mad zealot in charge of the Cremona Orphanage, Chiara has always been known as the dark one. Cursed with the ability to see the future, her life has always been a waking nightmare. The future is darker than even the dark one can foretell. As the country around her becomes a battleground, Chiara’s only salvation lies in a battered old violin. As the town struggles against the death that is their destiny, Chiara must embrace her delusions to play the final requiem. The town’s fate is sealed with the haunting song of a battered old violin. Sanity shatters as music, madness and the mystical dance in a requiem to fiery chaos. The damned must die a little death for the pure to triumph. The dark one is the only one who can bring light to a fallen world.
Add Ash-Eater’s Fugue, Anno 2021 on your Goodreads list
Like The Firebird’s Requiem on Facebook!
 
Kim Koning
Kim is a dark fiction writer with the heart of a poet and the soul of a gypsy while the ancient rhythms of Africa, the birthplace of storytellers, courses through her veins. Wanting to be either a pathologist or a criminal psychologist, life took her on a few twists and turns while studying journalism and after a couple of meandering offshoots that did not involve fiction, fiction finally chose her when she was asked to write a short story for a NZ anthology (which was a National Award Winner). Kim now lives on the beautiful East Coast of New Zealand’s North Island and is lucky enough to call the Pacific Ocean her backyard. She can often be found wandering the cliff tops above the crashing ocean and walking through the lush farmlands that surround the area. But with a heart caught between two lands, the sunburned, ancient Africa and the lush, green islands of New Zealand, she finds her true home within the white pages covered in ink. Her fiction is caught between the dark and mysterious, the truth and the what ifs, secrets and reality, shadows and light. Kim really does see ghosts and her loved ones believe ghosts and extreme weather phenomenon follow her around. She grew up spending holidays and weekends at her grandparents’ large old farm homestead which had a hidden wing that was haunted. These early experiences with haunted homes ignited her imagination and started a spark that made her question what else is out there that we couldn’t see, what is around us observing us? Why could she see these ghosts/spirits and many others couldn’t? The spark was lit and the stories started coming as fast as she could write them down.
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