Andra Watkins, Author of Not Without my Father: One Woman’s 444-Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace, Challenges us to Make a Memory With That Special Someone in 2015

Meet Andra Watkins

Andra Watkins lives in Charleston, South Carolina. A non-practicing CPA, she has a degree in accounting from Francis Marion University. She’s still mad at her mother for refusing to let her major in musical theater, because her mom was convinced she’d end up starring in porn films. In addition to her writing talent, Andra is an accomplished public speaker. Her acclaimed debut novel To Live Forever: An Afterlife Journey of Meriwether Lewis was published by Word Hermit Press in 2014.

Her latest book is the memoir, Not Without My Father: One Woman’s 444 Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace.

Connect and Socialize with Andra!

Website * Google+ * Facebook * Twitter * Tumblr * Pinterest * Goodreads

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Can an epic adventure succeed without a hero? Andra Watkins needed a wingman to help her become the first living person to walk the historic 444-mile Natchez Trace as the pioneers did. She planned to walk fifteen miles a day. For thirty-four days.

After striking out with everyone in her life, she was left with her disinterested eighty-year-old father. And his gas. The sleep apnea machine and self-scratching. Sharing a bathroom with a man whose gut obliterated his aim.

As Watkins trudged America’s forgotten highway, she lost herself in despair and pain. Nothing happened according to plan, and her tenuous connection to her father started to unravel. Through arguments an laughter, tears and fried chicken, they fought to rebuild their relationship before it was too late. In Not Without My Father: One Woman’s 444-Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace, Watkins invites readers to join her dysfunctional family adventure in a humorous and heartbreaking memoir that asks if one can really turn I wish I had into I’m glad I did.

Coming to Amazon on 15 January 2015!

I would like to welcome Andra Watkins, author of Not Without My Father: One Woman’s 444-Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace to Emeraldfire's Bookmark. Ms. Watkins was kind enough to write a guest post for me and here it is below in her own words:

'I Shared a Bathroom With My Eighty-Year-Old Father and Survived. Mostly.'

by Andra Watkins

I never wanted to spend five weeks with my eighty-year-old father. The explosive gas. The same story for the five billionth time. The all-night self-scratching. The sleep apnea machine. The gut that obscures all ability to hit the toilet.

But I needed my father.

I wanted to launch my debut novel To Live Forever: An Afterlife Journey of Meriwether Lewis by taking readers into the world of the book. For thirty-four days, I would walk the 10,000-year-old Natchez Trace as the pioneers did. In fifteen mile daily increments, I would become the first living person to replicate their journey through Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee.

Starry-eyed, I believed my walk would make my book a success. I imagined a best seller. News crews following my journey. My name is blinking neon lights. People standing in awe, holding my novel for an autograph.

I'm an idiot. A complete idiot.

I didn't understand my idiocy when I approached my cantankerous father and asked him to be my wingman on my Natchez Trace walk. I needed him to drop me off and pick me up fifteen miles later. After striking out with everyone else, he was my last hope to make a grab at literary glory.

He said no.

Because why would he want to spend five weeks with me? We shouted instead of speaking, argued in place of connection. For most of my life, I dreaded every interaction with Dad. His lectures and nagging and know-it-all-ness. Yet I was willing to put all that aside, while he rejected me?

Wrong answer, Old Man!

When I finally regrouped, I appealed to his ego. The Roy Show. In towns full of strangers who'd never heard his stories. Junk shops and crap food he could eat without Mom's knowing.

He was totally on board with that.

For five weeks, I lived with my aging father. I walked fifteen miles a day on pavement. Through every conceivable quirk of weather, I duct-taped my shredded feet and dragged my aching joints across three states.

The hardest thing I've ever done. Walking. For thirty-four days. With my maddening father circling in the car.

Think of the most aggravating person in your life. Imagine putting yourself through the worst endurance exercise possible with them. How would you feel?

I wrote Not Without My Father: One Woman's 444-Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace to explore that journey. I won't reveal how my dysfunctional family adventure turned out, but I will tell you why you need to read this book. RIGHT NOW.

You're losing someone this very minute. Incrementally, they're slipping away. You mean to have an adventure with them, to spend an hour or an afternoon, to do that thing. But Life's crazy gets in the way. You put it off, because this person is maddening, right? And before you know it, that person is gone: either because they've moved on to another phase of Life, or they've passed away.

I wrote Not Without My Father to encourage everyone to grab a loved one and Make a Memory. Right Now. Today. To turn "I wish I had" into "I'm glad I did." You shouldn't care about this book because I wrote it. You shouldn't move it to the top of your overflowing reading list because I need to make money.

You should read this book because it will change your life. You will connect with a loved one, and you will Make a Memory. You will have an experience to treasure, something you wouldn't otherwise have. Read Not Without My Father. Be inspired to Make a Memory in 2015.

And I want to hear about the memories you make. Please submit them to me at mystories(at)andrawatkins(dot)com. I promise, I'll read every submission, and I'll highlight them on my website: andrawatkins.com.

May you read well and often

Introducing The Society of Feathers Series by Emma Michaels!

So, I was delighted to learn that the first book in Emma Michaels' Society of Feathers Series - Owlet - is available from Amazon for $0.99, or for free from Kindle Unlimited. The second book - Eyrie - is available for $2.99 from Amazon, or for free from Kindle Unlimited and Stryx - the third book in the Society of Feathers Series - will be coming out soon! I would advise you to grab your own copies as soon as possible!

I had the pleasure of reading Book 1 in the Society of Feathers Series by Emma Michaels - Owlet - in December of 2014 and here is my review. I'm also looking forward to reading both Eyrie and Stryx sometime in the near future as well! ;) So, come take a look!

Meet Emma Michaels

Emma Michaels is the bestselling author of the Society of Feathers Series. As an avid reader she started her book blog in 2009 (www.EmmaMichaels.com) and over the years has received numerous short story publications in addition to her full length novels. Working to help Indies and small presses from around the world she has received the nickname ‘The Mad Hatter’ for her versatility in graphic design, publishing, marketing, and blogging.

Owlet by Emma Michaels (2012)

Length: 206 pages

Purchase your copy from Amazon and Barnes and Noble!

Somewhere between falling and flying…there is a girl.

Iris has a secret. She lost her memory eight years ago and never told a living soul. After an asthma attack one night she finds out that her dreams of a strange house on a snowy island may be a memory resurfacing but the more she learns about the past the more she realizes the life she has been living is a lie. As the façade her father has built starts to crumble around her she will have to decide which means more to her; the truth or her life.

Eyrie by Emma Michaels (2013)

Length: 202 pages

Purchase your copy from Amazon and Barnes and Noble!

Eyrie Blurb:

Somewhere between falling and flying...you will find the truth.

The truth is being unveiled and Iris' past is unlike anything she ever could have guessed. For Stryx, finding your missing half doesn't always mean finding your mate. Iris has been missing a part of herself for so long that no one is sure she will be able to put the pieces back together and her ever reliable dreams may be forcing her astray. Coping with the death of someone she loved, she is forced to face the truth and break free from the lies that have caged her.

Stryx by Emma Michaels (2014)

Length: 207 pages

Purchase your copy soon from Amazon and Barnes and Noble!

Stryx Blurb:

Somewhere between flying and falling…the truth will be revealed.

Iris was innocent…until she wasn't. The world robbed her of the one thing she desired, her life with her father, only to give her the only other thing she’d desired in a warped twist of fate. Things are never as they seem among the Stryx and as she uncovers the final and most brutal truth, she will have to face that even working together with the Eyrie, they may not be able to fix what has been broken. Can they repair the damage the Eyrie did to the Stryx? Or will rebellion ensue and cripple the one form of protection they now need most.

May you read well and often

Kathryn Meyer Griffith - Forever and Always: A Romantic Short Story

Reread. Forever and Always: A Romantic Short Story by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (2014)
Length: 26 pages
Genre: Short Story
Originally Read: 9 April 2011
Reread Finished: 29 January 2015
Where did it come from? Originally, I received a copy of this book in February of 2011 from Kathryn Meyer Griffith; then I downloaded another copy for free from Amazon in January of 2015.

So, back on February 23, 2011, Ms. Griffith was kind enough to send me a copy of this book to read.  Originally, the story was called Always and Forever, and I read it for the first time on April 9th, 2011. Actually, it only took me one day - just about half an hour - to read it. 

So, when I learned that Ms. Griffith had revised and recently released her story with a title change and a newly redesigned cover, I decided that I wanted to reread it for myself. I downloaded my second copy from Amazon, during this most recent giveaway - from January 22, until January 26, 2015.

I actually downloaded this book on January 24, 2015, and while I started reading this book on January 28th, it was at about 11:50 P. M. that I started my reread. It was sometime after midnight on January 29th, 2015 that I finished reading. So, my reread took place from January 28th, to January 29th, 2015.

   

May you read well and often

B. A. Spicer - Strings

4. Strings by B. A. Spicer (2012)
Length: 18 pages
Genre: Short Story
Started/Finished: 27 January 2015
Where did it come from? From Amazon
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 24 January 2015
Why do I have it? This ebook was a free download from Amazon in January of 2015, although I certainly want to read more short stories. I have also read and enjoyed several books by this author n the past.

Astrophysicist Madeleine Happer is convinced that her nightly dreams are trying to tell her something. She isn't quite sure what is going to happen, but the frequency and vividness of each dream seems to indicate whatever happens - it will be momentous. Yet Maddy is certain - deep within herself - that in some indefinable way, the earth will be intrinsically changed.

Now, teetering on the brink of her own personal scientific discovery - one which could potentially prove monumental in the field of astrophysics - Maddy must make everyone understand that they all need to be prepared for what is coming. But is it possible that, even now, she may be too late? Only the universe can say for certain; yet it appears that the universe has suddenly become...mute.

I must that I really enjoyed reading this particular story. I found that the plot was remarkably well-developed for its length; and I appreciated that even at eighteen pages long, the story was unusual and filled with several unexpected plot twists. I give this book an A!

A! - (90-95%)

May you read well and often

B. A. Spicer - Peaches in the Attic: A Rather Disturbing Tale

3. Peaches in the Attic: A Rather Disturbing Tale by B. A. Spicer (2012)
Length: 13 pages
Genre: Short Story
Started/Finished: 27 January 2015
Where did it come from? From Amazon
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 24 January 2015
Why do I have it? This ebook was a free download from Amazon in January of 2015, although I certainly want to read more short stories. I have also read and enjoyed  Angels: A Metaphysical Horror Story by the same author in the past.

Valerie absolutely loves her Grandma's stories. From funny to scary and every genre in between, to little Valerie's mind Grandma is the best storyteller ever. She can transport the little girl to anywhere her imagination desires, simply by telling one of her wonderful stories. And the best part of all is that the star of every story is Valerie herself.  

However, sometimes the line between reality and fantasy can become very blurry. So, when something momentous happens to them, will Valerie be able to tell her story. And, most importantly, will anyone believe her? 

I really enjoyed this story very much and I give it an A! I must say that Valerie reminded me so much of myself. When I was little my Grandpa was the one who used to tell me stories; although in my opinion, his stories were never quite as scary as one of Valerie's Grandma's stories. And just like Valerie, I was always the star of my Grandpa's stories.

The stories that my Grandpa told me usually involved my name (of course), and a giant bag of sweets - any sort of candy that might have been my favorite at the time - for myself, and to share with anyone else I might meet during the course of the story.

A! - (90-95%)

May you read well and often

B. A. Spicer - Angels: A Metaphysical Horror Story

2. Angels: A Metaphysical Horror Story by B. A. Spicer (2012)
Length: 26 pages
Genre: Short Story
Started/Finished: 26 January 2015
Where did it come from? From Amazon
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 24 January 2015
Why do I have it? This ebook was a free download from Amazon in January of 2015, although I certainly want to read more short stories. I also like horror and B. A. Spicer is a new author for me.

For Flora James' mother, the grief and sorrow of her daughter's death is already immeasurable; yet learning that Flora died due to bullying at school sparks an unquenchable rage in her heart towards Flora's tormentors. Flora had so many dreams and desires for her future - she was preparing to go on a class trip to France soon and wanted so badly to see the Eiffel Tower while she was there. She loved nature and space, and knew so much about the planets and constellations. It is just inconceivable to her mother to think that her beautiful Flora is no longer here; not when her daughter had so much more life left to live.

These cruel children must be made to understand the gravity of what they have done. To her, and most of all, to Flora. Especially this Tanya girl - Flora's main bully. Tanya must learn her lesson - and it will be a difficult one for her to teach - but for Flora's sake, her mother will do whatever is necessary.

This is the first book that I've read by this author - although at 26 pages, it would be better classified as a short story. However, B. A. Spicer has also written several longer novels as well. I must say that I really enjoyed reading this story; I found the plot gripping and totally believable. I could certainly imagine this scenario occurring in reality. I give this story a definite A!

A! - (90-95%)

May you read well and often

Introducing Human No Longer by Kathryn Meyer Griffith!

Hello Everyone! I was delighted to learn recently that Human No Longer by Kathryn Meyer Griffith will be free to download from Amazon - at least for a short time! I had the pleasure of reading and reviewing Human No Longer by Kathryn Meyer Griffith back in July of 2013.

Yes, from Wednesday, February 25, 2015 until Sunday, March 1, 2015, Kathryn Meyer Griffith's romantic vampire novel Human No Longer will be available to download for free from Amazon. So, you'll have to hurry and grab your own copy today!

Meet Kathryn Meyer Griffith

Since childhood I’ve been an artist and worked as a graphic designer in the corporate world and for newspapers for twenty-three years before I quit to write full time. But I’d already begun writing novels at 21, over forty-two years ago now, and have had twenty (ten romantic horror, two horror novels, two romantic SF horror, one romantic suspense, one romantic time travel, one historical romance and three murder mysteries) previous novels, two novellas and twelve short stories published from Zebra Books, Leisure Books, Avalon Books, The Wild Rose Press, Damnation Books/Eternal Press; and I’ve self-published my last five novels with Amazon Kindle Direct and my dinosaur novels are my best-sellers.

I’ve been married to Russell for thirty-six years; have a son, James, and two grandchildren, Joshua and Caitlyn, and I live in a small quaint town in Illinois, which is right across the JB Bridge from St. Louis, Mo. We have three quirky cats, ghost cat Sasha and Cleo, and live cat Sasha (Too), and the five of us live happily in an old house in the heart of town. Though I’ve been an artist, and a folk singer in my youth with my brother Jim, writing has always been my greatest passion, my butterfly stage, and I’ll probably write stories until the day I die…or until my memory goes.

2012 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my horror novel The Last Vampire - Revised Author’s Edition ~ 2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my thriller novel Dinosaur Lake.

Human No Longer by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (2012)

Length: 267 pages

Purchase your copy from Amazon!

Human No Longer Blurb:

Jenny and Jeff Sanders become victims of a bizarre crime; leaving Jeff dead and Jenny in a temporary coma. She returns to her children. With Jeff’s death she must move back to her childhood home, a haunted farmhouse, in Summer Haven, Florida, where once they destroyed a family of vampires.

Jenny has no appetite. She’s edgy. Her eyes hurt. She thinks it could be trauma or grief. Until one night she can’t resist the night woods or the overpowering urge to drink warm animals’ blood–and accepts the truth. Her attackers were vampires.

Now she’s becoming what she once reviled. She can’t abandon her children but must find a way to live in the human world. At night she hunts, in the day hides what she’s becoming and attempts to fit in.

Then townspeople begin dying. Like years before. With her blackouts, she fears she may be the killer, or is it her vampire attackers? For they've found her and demand she joins them–or her family will die. She resists until they kidnap her children. Then she has to find a way to outwit and ultimately destroy them.

The prequel to Human No Longer - Vampire Blood - is also for sale on Amazon.

May you read well and often

Blog Tour For Grey by Christi J. Whitney From May 4, 2015 to June 26, 2015 - Come Join Us!

Hello Everyone! I am delighted to announce that Christi J. Whitney will be touring the blogosphere to promote her young adult urban fantasy novel Grey. This virtual book tour is being hosted by Pump up Your Book and will last from May 4, to June 26, 2015!

Grey Blog Tour Information:

Meet Christi J. Whitney

Christi J. Whitney is a former high school theatre director with a love for the arts. She lives just outside Atlanta with her husband and two sons. When not spending time with them or taking a ridiculous number of trips to Disney World, she can be found directing plays, making costumes for sci-fi/fantasy conventions, obsessing over Doctor Who, watching superhero movies, or pretending she’s just a tad bit British.

Her latest book is the young adult urban fantasy novel, Grey (The Romany Outcasts Series, Book 1).

Connect and Socialize with Christi!

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Goodreads * Blog * Watch the 'Grey' Book Trailer on Vimeo!

About Grey: 

Sebastian Grey always thought he was a fairly normal teenager – good friends, decent grades, and a pretty sweet job in his foster brother’s tattoo shop.

But when strangers arrive in town, Sebastian soon realizes that his world is nothing at all what it seemed. Secretive gypsies surround him, shadowy figures stalk him, and the girl he’s been dreaming about turns up at school.

Now Sebastian must protect this girl at all costs, even if it means he will never be normal again.

Purchase your copy from Amazon, Amazon UK and Barnes and Noble!

Read Chapter One here!

Grey Book Publicity Tour Schedule:

Monday, May 4 - Interview at Examiner

Tuesday, May 5 - Interview at PUYB Virtual Book Club

Thursday, May 7 - Book Featured at Kristy Centeno’s Blog

Monday, May 11 - Interview at The Writer’s Life

Tuesday, May 12 - Book Featured at Laurie’s Thoughts and Reviews

Wednesday, May 13 - Book Featured at Bookingly Yours

Thursday, May 14 - Book Featured at Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews

Monday, May 18 - Interview at Blogcritics

Tuesday, May 19 - Book Review at Our Family’s Adventure

Wednesday, May 20 - Book Review at I Smell Sheep

Thursday, May 21 - Book Featured at 3 Partners in Shopping

Monday, May 25 - Interview at As the Page Turns

Wednesday, May 27 - Book Review at Reviews by Martha's Bookshelf

Thursday, May 28 - Guest Blogging at Lori’s Reading Corner

Friday, May 29 - Book Review at Crazy Four Books

Monday, June 1- Guest Blogging at The Writer’s Life

Tuesday, June 2 - Character Interview at Pimp That Character!

Wednesday, June 3 - Interview at Deal Sharing Aunt

Thursday, June 4 - Guest Blogging at The Story Behind the Book

Friday, June 5 - Book Review at Reader Girls

Monday, June 8 - Book Review at Dreams Come True Through Reading

Tuesday, June 9 - Guest Blogging at Queen of All She Reads

Wednesday, June 10 - Book Featured at Authors and Readers Book Corner

Thursday, June 11 - Interview at Literarily Speaking

Friday, June 12 - Book Review at Pink Fluffy Hearts: Diary of a Coffee Addict

Friday, June 12 - Book Review at Curling up by the Fire

Monday, June 15 - Book Featured at CelticLady’s Reviews

Tuesday, June 16 - Book Review at My Tangled Skeins Book Reviews

Wednesday, June 17 - Book Review at Books and Needlepoint

Thursday, June 18 - Book Review at Fallen Over Book Reviews

Monday, June 22 - Book Review at Bound 2 Escape

Tuesday, June 23 - Interview at Straight From the Author’s Mouth

Wednesday, June 24 - Book Review at A Novel Kind of Bliss

Thursday, June 25 - Book Review at Emeraldfire’s Bookmark

Friday, June 26 - Book Review at CBY Book Club

May you read well and often

Calling All Book Reviewers!

Hello Everyone! I was delighted to learn recently that The Ice Bridge and Blood Forge by Kathryn Meyer Griffith were recently released as audiobooks. I've had the pleasure of reading approximately eighteen of Ms. Griffith's twenty-two currently published books. Of those twenty-two books, twenty of them have been released as audiobooks distributed by Audible.

The two newest releases are, of course, The Ice Bridge and Blood Forge by Kathryn Meyer Griffith. The Ice Bridge is narrated by Ashley Arnold and Blood Forge is narrated by Marilyn Ghigliotti. I haven't had the pleasure of reading either book as yet - although I hope to at some point in the very near future.

Meet Kathryn Meyer Griffith

Since childhood I’ve been an artist and worked as a graphic designer in the corporate world and for newspapers for twenty-three years before I quit to write full time. But I’d already begun writing novels at 21, over forty-two years ago now, and have had twenty (ten romantic horror, two horror novels, two romantic SF horror, one romantic suspense, one romantic time travel, one historical romance and three murder mysteries) previous novels, two novellas and twelve short stories published from Zebra Books, Leisure Books, Avalon Books, The Wild Rose Press, Damnation Books/Eternal Press; and I’ve self-published my last five novels with Amazon Kindle Direct and my dinosaur novels are my best-sellers.

I’ve been married to Russell for thirty-six years; have a son, James, and two grandchildren, Joshua and Caitlyn, and I live in a small quaint town in Illinois, which is right across the JB Bridge from St. Louis, Mo. We have three quirky cats, ghost cat Sasha and Cleo, and live cat Sasha (Too), and the five of us live happily in an old house in the heart of town. Though I’ve been an artist, and a folk singer in my youth with my brother Jim, writing has always been my greatest passion, my butterfly stage, and I’ll probably write stories until the day I die…or until my memory goes.

2012 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my horror novel The Last Vampire - Revised Author’s Edition ~ 2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my thriller novel Dinosaur Lake.

The Ice Bridge by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (2011)

Length: 254 pages

Purchase your copy from Amazon and Audible!

The Ice Bridge Blurb:

She’ll fall in love again…with a man and the island. Charlotte returns to her Aunt Bess and Mackinac Island, a quaint retreat that welcomes summer tourists and allows no cars to renew herself and write about the island’s ghosts.

She’s come to help Bess with her heartache, an ended love with Shaun, and to renew a friendship with neighbor Hannah.

In winter Mackinac closes down and everyone looks forward to the ice bridge that freezes across the Straits of Mackinac.

Until Hannah disappears into the icy waters crossing it.

Everyone says it’s an accident. But Charlotte and her admirer cop friend, Mac, don’t think so. Something isn’t right. Hannah was too smart to go off the path.

So it’s murder…but why…how…by whom? In the end, it’s Mac - and perhaps Hannah’s ghost - who saves Charlotte and Bess’s lives when the killer decides they’re too close to the truth and tries to kill them, too.

Blood Forge: Revised Author's Edition by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (2012)

Length: 248 pages

Purchase your copy from Amazon and Audible!

Blood Forge: Revised Author's Edition Blurb:

This gun was forged in hell…and brings hell to anyone who touches it. An ancient evil is trapped in the bowels of darkness deep below ground, enduring an eternity of loneliness and torment. Then it discovers a way, an escape, back into the world of men…in the form of a seductively beautiful .357 Colt Python revolver.

Forged in the damned fires of the underworld, hammered from the strongest but cursed steel, the gun and the entity that inhabit it are capable of immeasurable destruction and insidious evil. Anyone who comes in contact with it, even touches it, will find themselves staring into the muzzle of a loaded and sinister gun…and into the mouth of hell.

May you read well and often

Get Ready to Celebrate 'National Readathon Day'!

I was delighted to learn that the first-ever National Readathon Day will take place on Saturday, January 24, 2015 from 12:00 P. M.-4:00 P. M. local time, anywhere in the world. According to an email that I recently received, Mashable, the National Book Foundation, Penguin Random House, and Goodreads are joining forces and encouraging people to slow down, disconnect, and pick up a book. It all happens at noon, wherever you are in the world.

I'm definitely going to take part in this, and hopefully I will be able to finish up some books. Does anyone know if it still counts as 'disconnecting' if three or four of my book choices are actually ebooks? Anyway, here's my potential reading list:

Jezebel: A Horror Thriller Novel by Gordon A. Kessler (2001)

Length: 388 pages

Purchase your copy from Amazon!

Jezebel: A Horror Thriller Novel Blurb:

Sleep lightly tonight, America…JEZEBEL is on the loose!

In Jezebel: a madman has come to town seeking a diabolical revenge and large dogs begin attacking their masters for no apparent reason and with heinous results.

Animal Control Director Tony Parker must find out why and stop the murderous attacks. Meanwhile, Jezebel, a huge black Great Dane has killed her master and is loose, terrorizing the city and stalking Parker and his family. Parker and Sarah Hill, his beautiful and seductive young assistant, attempt to unravel the mystery and stop the terrible carnage while dealing with their own demons and lusty desires.

The attacks must be stopped. Jezebel must be found - and soon, you see - there is one other complication. Parker seems to have come down with an annoying little virus. No, it's not one of those irritating summer colds. It's certain death.

Beware, Jezebel is on the loose!

This ebook has been sitting on my TBR pile since July of 2012, and I just started reading it on January 11, 2015. Gee, it only took me a little over two-and-a-half years to start reading the book! Why, oh why, did it take me so long?! According to Goodreads, I'm 51% into the book (approximately 198 of 388 pages) This is such a good book, but I'm hoping to finish it on Saturday.

Awakened by a Kiss by Lila DiPasqua (2010)

Length: 357 pages

Purchase your copy from Amazon!

Awakened by a Kiss Blurb:

Three classic fairytales - Sleeping Beauty, Puss in Boots, and Little Red Riding Hood - cleverly retold with enough sensual twists to prove wickedly ever after does exist....

Sleeping Beau: Five years ago, the notorious rake, Adrien d'Aspe, Marquis de Beaulain, was awakened by a sensuous kiss - and experienced a night of raw ecstasy that was branded into his memory. Years later, he spots his mysterious seductress - and this time, he has no intention of letting her go...

Little Red Writing: Nicolas de Savignac, Comte de Lambelle, has been assigned by the King to uncover the secret identity of the author writing scandalous stories about powerful courtiers. He never expected his investigation would lead to his grandmother's house, or to a ravishing woman who would stir his deepest hunger...

Bewitching in Boots: Elisabeth de Roussel, daughter of the King, is accustomed to getting what she wants - and she wants Tristan de Tiersonnier, Comte de Saint-Marcel, an ex-commander of the King's private Guard. A recent injury has forced Tristan to leave his distinguished position, but Elisabeth is determined to make him see he's every bit the man he once was - and more than man enough for her...

So, this book has been on my TBR pile since December of 2014 and as I'm a lover of any type of fairytale retellings, this seemed like the kind of book that I'd like. I've just dipped into the first couple of chapters of Sleeping Beau on January 18, 2015, and I think that it's going to be good.

Tortured Souls by Kimber Leigh Wheaton (2014)
Length: 227 pages
Purchase your copy from Amazon!

Tortured Souls Blurb:

Sometimes Rest in Peace isn't an option...

Kacie Ramsey sees ghosts - and it's ruining her life. Her mother left, her father blames her, and no matter how hard she tries, she can't keep the ghosts away. Now a new power has emerged. Nightly visions of grisly murders and a relentless predator draw her to the brink of insanity.

When the phantom appears at a party, Kacie's longtime crush, Logan, saves her. He invites her to join the Orion Circle, a group of supernatural hunters with chapters in schools all over the country. Through the Circle, Kacie learns to embrace her spiritual powers, and for the first time in her life she feels in control rather than a victim.

But the Foxblood Demon will not give up so easily. A demented serial killer in life who trapped the souls of the thirteen children he murdered, imprisoning them within the walls of his mansion. Now in death, he plots his return while drawing power from the pure souls of the children. He recognizes something in Kacie he's never seen before - a medium powerful enough to provide a vessel for his tainted soul.

Kacie can't ignore the tortured souls of the children crying out to her every night. With Logan at her side, she will fight the Foxblood Demon. But can they banish this powerful phantom, or will Kacie lose not only her body, but her eternal soul to the monster?

This ebook has been on my TBR pile since June of 2014, and after starting to read it on August 16, 2014, I had to unfortunately set it aside for a while. I hope that I can start reading this ebook again soon.

Forever and Always: A Romantic Short Story by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (2014)

Length: 26 pages

Purchase your copy from Amazon!

Forever and Always: A Romantic Short Story Blurb:

Emma Baker’s husband, Jonathan, has just divorced her, shattered her heart and left her and her young son, Christopher, to fend for themselves. Bitterly lonely, she accepts a girlfriend’s suggestion to go out on her first night as a newly free woman. She vows not to let a man turn her head, vows not to let love make a fool of her again.

But she never counted on meeting a charismatic and sexy nightclub bouncer like Ben Lauery, who takes her for an exciting ride on his Harley, sweeps her off her feet and steals her heart. She never counted on the fireworks that explode in the bedroom and the sweetness of his burning kisses when he gently seduces her and makes her love him forever and always. All she knows is that, in the end, she can’t resist the passion, devotion and the forever love he’s offering and she has to give love a second chance.

I know, I know, I read this ebook short story back in April of 2011; but I thought that since it had been recently revised and released, I would reread Forever and Always.

Peaches in the Attic: A Rather Disturbing Tale by B. A. Spicer (2012)

Length: 13 pages

Purchase your copy from Amazon!

Peaches in the Attic: A Rather Disturbing Tale Blurb:

Please note this is a short story. Valerie is fascinated by the stories her grandmother tells, but sometimes the line between fantasy and reality blurs...

Angels: A Metaphysical Horror Story by B. A. Spicer (2012)

Length: 26 pages

Purchase your copy from Amazon!

Angels: A Metaphysical Horror Story Blurb:

When a mother loses her daughter to bullying at school, she decides to take revenge. Angels is a story of loss and the human fascination with the metaphysical world. Please note that this is a short story.

Strings by B. A. Spicer (2012)
Length: 18 pages
Purchase your copy from Amazon!

Strings Blurb:

Please note: this is a short story. Astrophysicist, Madeleine Happer, is on the brink of a momentous discovery. But will she be too late?

I think that I have at least two other books by B. A. Spicer already on my TBR pile, although I haven't gotten the chance to read them yet. Surprise, surprise! sigh - lol!

Autumn in Carthage by Christopher Zenos (2014)

Length: 332 pages

Purchase your copy from Amazon!

Autumn in Carthage Blurb:

The nether side of passion is madness.

Nathan Price is a college professor with crippling impairments, seeking escape from his prison of necessity. One day, in a package of seventeenth-century documents from Salem Village, he stumbles across a letter by his best friend, Jamie, who had disappeared six months before. The document is dated 1692 - the height of the Witch Trials. The only potential lead: a single mention of Carthage, a tiny town in the Wisconsin northern highland.

The mystery catapults Nathan from Chicago to the Wisconsin wilderness. There, he meets Alanna, heir to an astonishing Mittel-European legacy of power and sacrifice. In her, and in the gentle townsfolk of Carthage, Nathan finds the refuge for which he has long yearned. But Simon, the town elder, is driven by demons of his own, and may well be entangled in Jamie's disappearance and that of several Carthaginians. As darkness stretches toward Alanna, Nathan may have no choice but to risk it all...

Moving from the grimness of Chicago's South Side to the Wisconsin hinterlands to seventeenth-century Salem, this is a story of love, of sacrifice, of terrible passions - and of two wounded souls quietly reaching for the deep peace of sanctuary.

This book has been on my TBR pile since March of 2014, and after starting to read it on May 16, 2014, I had to unfortunately set it aside for a while. I hope that I can start reading this book again sometime Saturday afternoon.

I probably have some extremely high hopes, but I do hope to finish at least four, maybe five, of these books...here's hoping! ;)

May you read well and often

Introducing The Gladiators' Gifts Series by Amy Hearst!

So, I was delighted to learn that both books in Amy Hearst's The Gladiators' Gifts Series - The Gladiator's Girl and The Gladiator's Goddess - are available from Amazon for $0.99 and $1.99, respectively. Each book has been revised and was republished in 2014 by Buroughs Publishing Group. I would advise you to grab your own copies as soon as possible!

I had the pleasure of reading Book 1 in the Gladiators' Gifts Series by Amy Hearst - The Gladiator's Girl - in January of 2014 and here is my review. I think that I may want to read the revised version of Book 1, as well as The Gladiator's Goddess at some point in the very near future. ;) Anyway, come take a look!

Meet Amy Hearst

Hi everyone. I live in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. I have loved books since I learned to read and only recently began to write fiction. Before that I wrote as a journalist for many years. This is quite different from that. It's also way more fun.

I have also history since childhood, and if I had it to do over again, I'd be an historian or archaeologist. For right now though, I'll write about the past and hope to be able to entertain you.

The Gladiator's Girl by Amy Hearst (2014)

Length: 51 pages

Purchase your copy from Amazon! 

The Gladiator's Girl Blurb:

Orphaned and enslaved, kept for the pleasure of Rome's fiercest warriors, Celeste will soon learn that not every gladiator is a beast - and love can indeed set one free.

The Gladiator's Goddess by Amy Hearst (2014)

Length: 69 pages

Purchase your copy from Amazon!

The Gladiator's Goddess Blurb:

A pregnant slave girl and a wounded gladiator must trust each other to escape captivity and find true love.

WIN OR DIE

A slave at the gladiatorial school of Marcus Antonius, Nardine has long been unlucky in love; the arena claimed the lives of both men who turned her head. And yet, she has been blessed as well: She is finally pregnant. But bondage is no future for a child, so escape is the only option, no matter the punishment if she fails.

Fleeing a sorrowful past, Abedi has long wanted to be a gladiator. Now he is, and at one of the most impressive schools in all of Rome. Strong and quick and brave, he will be tested to the limits of his abilities. But, after discovering the beautiful Nardine, the answer to his prayers, he will find the challenges inside the arena - and those rewards - are only the beginning.

May you read well and often

Blog Tour For Animal by Nikki Rae From February 16, 2015 to March 17, 2015 - Come Join Us!

Hello Everyone! I am extremely happy to announce that Nikki Rae will be touring the blogosphere to promote her new adult horror novel Animal. This virtual book tour is being hosted by the author herself and will last from February 16, to March 17, 2015!

Ms. Rae is also doing an awesome giveaway - she is giving away a signed paperback copy of Animal, a bookmark, and a postcard to one lucky winner at the end of her Blog Tour. Be sure to fill out the Rafflecopter form below, and I wish you all the very best of good luck in taking part!

Animal Blog Tour Information:

Meet Nikki Rae

Nikki Rae is a writer who lives in New Jersey. As an independent author, she has appeared numerously on Amazon Best Seller lists and she concentrates on making her imaginary characters as real as possible. Nikki writes mainly dark, scary, romantic tales, but she’ll try anything once. When she is not writing, reading, or thinking, you can find her spending time with animals, drawing in a quiet corner, or studying people. Closely.

Connect and Socialize with Nikki!

Goodreads * Amazon * Facebook * Twitter

About Animal:

Ava has spent her life running from the monsters that lurk in the shadows, always the prey. She finally thinks she can settle down, have a normal life, and work on not being so scared of the world around her. That is until she runs into her worst fear.

He has finally found the potential family he has always wanted. All he has to do is make his little bird sing. Will Ava escape with her humanity intact?

Blog Tour Giveaway of a signed paperback copy of Animal, a bookmark, and a postcard Ends March 17, 2015.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Animal Book Publicity Tour Schedule:

May you read well and often

Book Blast For Not Without my Father: One Woman's 444-Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace by Andra Watkins

Hello Everyone! I hope that you're all having a wonderful day today. I am delighted to welcome Andra Watkins, author of the memoir Not Without my Father: One Woman's 444-Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace to Emeraldfire's Bookmark. Ms. Watkins will be going on a Virtual Book Tour with Pump up Your Book! lasting through the middle of April. This is also my seventeenth Book Blast post ever, but I still hope that I do Not Without my Father: One Woman's 444-Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace by Andra Watkins justice.

About Not Without my Father: One Woman's 444-Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace:

Can an epic adventure succeed without a hero? Andra Watkins needed a wingman to help her become the first living person to walk the historic 444-mile Natchez Trace as the pioneers did. She planned to walk fifteen miles a day. For thirty-four days.

After striking out with everyone in her life, she was left with her disinterested eighty-year-old father. And his gas. The sleep apnea machine and self-scratching. Sharing a bathroom with a man whose gut obliterated his aim.

As Watkins trudged America’s forgotten highway, she lost herself in despair and pain. Nothing happened according to plan, and her tenuous connection to her father started to unravel. Through arguments an laughter, tears and fried chicken, they fought to rebuild their relationship before it was too late. In Not Without My Father: One Woman’s 444-Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace, Watkins invites readers to join her dysfunctional family adventure in a humorous and heartbreaking memoir that asks if one can really turn I wish I had into I’m glad I did.

Purchase Your Copy From Amazon! 

Meet Andra Watkins

Andra Watkins lives in Charleston, South Carolina. A non-practicing CPA, she has a degree in accounting from Francis Marion University. She’s still mad at her mother for refusing to let her major in musical theater, because her mom was convinced she’d end up starring in porn films. In addition to her writing talent, Andra is an accomplished public speaker. Her acclaimed debut novel To Live Forever: An Afterlife Journey of Meriwether Lewis was published by Word Hermit Press in 2014.

Her latest book is the memoir, Not Without My Father: One Woman’s 444 Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace.

Connect and Socialize with Andra!

Website * Google+ * Facebook * Twitter *Tumblr * Pinterest * Goodreads

Not Without My Father: One Woman’s 444-Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace Excerpt:

WALK THIS WAY

Aerosmith

When Dad followed Miss Ethel to the grand entrance of Hope Farm the next morning, Alice and I tiptoed through the kitchen. I lingered at the back door, listening to Miss Ethel describe her shock at the pricelessness of the urns on her mantle. “A museum curator from New Orleans almost had a stroke when he saw magnolia branches in those things. ‘But they’re vases’ I told him. He mopped his brow with a hankie and retorted that if I ever wanted to pay cash to send a child through medical school, I could sell just one of those vases. I keep ’em up there with nothing in ’em these days. Sad.” The grandfather clock chimed the half hour. “Well, let’s move on.”

Alice cleared her throat. “Andra. We’ve got to go.”

I shut the door and tramped down the back stairs to the car. Popping the trunk, I grabbed a value-priced tub of water and hoisted it onto the bumper. “If you work the nozzle, I’ll hold my CamelBak for you to fill it.” Alice pressed the white button on the jug while I tried to keep the pouch’s opening underneath. Water trickled from the white spout, like a hose with a kink. Alice cradled the container and shook it. “What’s the matter? Why isn’t any water coming out?”

We fiddled with the nozzle to make sure it was open all the way. When that didn’t work, we peered through the clear plastic sides to spot obstructions. After numerous adjustments, we pressed the button to restart the flow. Our collective machinations slowed it from a trickle to a drip.

“It’s going to take ten minutes to fill at this rate,” I fumed. “Is there something else we can do?”

We twisted the white cap on the other end of the unit. When nothing happened, we held either end and shook the container. I was ready to drop-kick the thing across the yard just as Alice clamped the sides with her elbows and squeezed. Water streamed into my CamelBak, a somewhat normal flow. “I can’t believe we’re two college graduates, and we can’t figure out how to make this thing work.” I laughed to mask a shudder along my insides.

What was I doing? My walk was nothing more than a mid-life lark to stave off failure.

I thought a lot about failure during my training. When my career evaporated, I barged into a local outdoor store and bought a $100 pair of Salomon sneakers on credit. I walked across bridges and wondered how to rebuild a consulting practice I didn’t enjoy. On lonely marsh pathways, I cried when I considered new beginnings. I poured frustration and despair into legs and feet and told Michael movement was changing my outlook.

Until I awoke one morning with a sore ankle. A swollen foot.

“Did you twist your ankle on a walk, Andra?” Michael lay next to me in bed and massaged puffy skin.

“No. I don’t remember doing anything to it. My ankle just looked like this when I woke up.”

Michael picked up his phone. “I’m making you an appointment with Stephen.”

Stephen Khouri. Our chiropractor. While he adjusted college sports teams, he also took mortal patients like me. I sat in his office and watched him work tanned fingers around my ankle.

“It’s dislocated. How much did you say you’re walking again?”

“I’ve got to walk 444 miles in thirty-four days.” 

“When?”

“Less than two months from now. I start March 1.”

Stephen’s mouth dropped open. “And you started training when?” 

“A couple of weeks ago.”

“How many miles are you doing at a time?”

I only knew it wasn’t enough, but I pretended mental calculations. “Eight miles?”

He scratched the fuzz on his head. “Other than the ankle, you’re in great shape, Andra. You’re keeping up your yoga practice, and it shows. I want you to come in once a week, and I’ll adjust it. Really, injuries like this are pretty common among my athletes.”

“I’m not an athlete.” I shifted my 150-pound body on his table and rested my arms on my forties paunch.

“You’re walking fifteen miles a day for thirty-four days?” I nodded.

“You’re an athlete. Now, let’s take a crack at that ankle.”

I lay facedown and gritted my teeth through bone grinding on bone.

Nobody ever called me an athlete.

Except Dad.

My father made an effort to change my mind about my athletic abilities sometime in my sixteenth year. When Mom bought a badminton set, Dad was the only person I wanted to play. Our birdies didn’t flutter. They zoomed back and forth across the net. I stood in the Southern twilight, scratching mosquito bites, oblivious to everything but the thrill of beating my father at a game that required true athletic skill.

I always thought badminton gifted me with some coordination, but maybe Dad helped me find what already existed within myself.

I blinked into the steamy Mississippi morning. Why was I thinking about badminton when I had a book to launch? Four hundred and forty- four miles to walk?

Because walking across three states in thirty-four days required another level of grit.

Several other levels. Maybe an entire quarry.

I unfolded a map of the Natchez Trace Parkway. Its twelve sections reached the windshield when I opened it flat. Air from the vent mimicked ripples in the landscape. A bold line of highway snaked north, with eastward turns south of Jackson and near the Alabama state line. Meriwether Lewis stared at me, near the fold at the top of the third section, acknowledging my pilgrimage to his grave. An average of three days per section.

Eternity yawned before me. At the beginning of any project, I always struggled to partition it into sections. I crumpled the map and threw it in the back seat. If I finished, would anybody care enough to read my novel? “We’re here.” Alice steered us into a pull-off. We stared at two stone pillars bisected by a wooden sign.

Natchez Trace Parkway. Brown and yellow. Green and white. The beginning of everything.

“Well.” I gripped the armrest to combat dizziness. Blood bansheed through my ears. But when I looked at Alice, I smiled. One of those fake smiles, like Mom and I always used when we wanted to pretend everything was fine.

Because everything was fine. Really.

I dragged my eyes back to the window. “If you just take a couple of pictures of me in front of that sign, I can get started.”

Green eyes blurred with every heartbeat as I trudged to my first marker. Four hundred and forty-four miles was a long way to walk. Doubt gripped my insides, choked my ribcage, rebelled against air, but when I turned, I struck my usual pose: Mouth yawning open in a round O. Black pants. Gray shirt. Eyes wide. My toddler smile.

For most of my life, faces masked truth. In that instant, I wanted to take refuge in the car and drive home. Back to Michael. To failed normalcy. I didn’t know what I would do with my life, but I couldn’t imagine anyone reading my words or caring about my walk. I couldn’t fathom making a wage from the written word. I could get a job at Starbucks and stop my nonsense, my draining of our household in a pursuit of a stupid dream. I-

“I think these will work.” Alice returned my phone.

For a second, I wavered between jumping and not jumping, between the first step and total flight. When I saw the trust on Alice’s face, I stood a little taller, banished doubt and took my phone. “I’m sure they will, but just in case..." I scrolled through them. “I guess I should post one, right? Let everybody know I’ve started?”

“Yeah.” Alice waited while I played with my phone, fighting to see the world through screens when experience magnified layers. Cemented memories.

“Okay. This one. Done.” My mouth its widest. Fingers splayed. Me at my silliest.

Silence engulfed me.

Without anything to hide behind, my eyes sizzled to life. “I can’t believe I’m crying.” I swiped tears as Alice pulled me close. With a hug, she whispered, “Most people would never take five weeks to just walk. Alone. Through scary, remote, even dangerous places. You’re here. You’re doing it. Don’t wish it away. Promise me you’ll savor it, okay?”

The ground blurred, a lens out-of-focus.

How many souls passed there in 10,000 years? One of them whispered.

“Get moving, girl.”

May you read well and often