Wide Open Giveaway Winner

Congratulations Carl winner of our Wide Open Book Giveaway at From the Shadows!  Carl will receive a print copy of Wide Open by Deborah Coates.

Thank you to all who entered.

Didn't win?  Don't miss our Royal Street Book Giveaway.  We are giving away two *signed* copies of Royal Street by Suzanne Johnson.  (International, ends 4/12)

**Giveaway winners selected using Random.org**

Air Novella Giveaway Winners

Congratulations Courtney and Archie winners of our Air Novella Giveaway at From the Shadows!  Courtney and Archie will receive their choice of large-print paperback or PDF of Air by J.D. Richard.

Thank you to all who entered.

**All giveaway winners selected using Random.org**

Friday the 13th Urban Fantasy Freebie

January is Urban Fantasy Month here at From the Shadows and we're celebrating with author interviews, giveaways, and now a free Kindle book on Amazon.

The Heretic by Joseph Nassise, an internationally bestselling urban fantasy thriller, is FREE this weekend on Amazon.  Happy Friday the 13th!

The Heretic (Templar Chronicles, #1) by Joseph Nassise

A former SWAT officer turns modern Templar Knight in this exciting new urban fantasy series for fans of Jim Butcher, Rob Thurman, and Patricia Briggs!

A chance encounter with one of the Hellspawn left Cade Williams with certain unique traits, including the ability to walk between the lands of the living and those of the dead. Now, as commander of the Echo Team, the special operations unit within the Templar hierarchy, he has devoted his life to using his "gifts" to protect mankind from the things that lurk in the darkness.

When a Templar commandery is invaded and its occupants mercilessly slaughtered, Knight Commander Williams is called in to hunt down those responsible.  His investigation quickly leads him to a cabal of necromancers known as the Council of Nine.

There's only one problem.

The necromancers are allied with the same supernatural creature that left Cade for dead five years before.  A creature so powerful that the Templars know it only as the Adversary.

In order to stop the killing, Cade will be forced to face his own personal demons.  Not just those deep inside his heart, but also the one that left him scarred, body and soul.

The same demon that has already beaten him once before...

Check out E.J.'s interview with Joseph Nassise and our Eyes to See giveaway here.

Monster YA Giveaway Winner

Congratulations Christina winner of the Monster YA Giveaway at From the Shadows! Christina will receive print copies of Legend of Witchtrot Road by E.J. Stevens, Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick, and Supernaturally by Kiersten White!

Thank you to all who entered!

**All giveaway winners selected using Random.org**

Author Newsletter Sign Ups

Phew! October was insanely busy, but I survived Halloween festivities and the Legend of Witchtrot Road book launch and am ready to celebrate the holidays and ring in the New Year (well, *almost* ready).  My early New Year's resolution? To bring you, my dear readers, a fun and informative author newsletter filled with the information that you want to know.

But sorry folks, I can't provide Simon or Cal for Christmas...

We have a new, totally fabulous, sign-up form for my author newsletter.  Sign up today and receive book news, giveaway links, series updates, and more.  Subscribers will also be eligible for special perks like exclusive coupon codes, free reads, and swagtastic gifts, so sign up (and tell your friends!).

Click on the Author Newsletter Sign-up Form Link to view our shiny new form.

The sign-up form is easy peasy and, as always, I respect your privacy and will never share your information.

Happy Holidays!

Paranormal Guest Author: Kiki Hamilton (The Faerie Ring)

Please welcome today's paranormal guest author Kiki Hamilton!  Kiki is the author of The Faerie Ring.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Kiki:  I started seriously writing about six years ago.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Kiki:  Harry Potter spurred me to start writing and the first thing I wrote was a story for my daughter. It was natural that it was a fantasy. However, I just finished writing a realistic contemporary story, so I’m not tied to just one genre.

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be?

Kiki:  I’d love the ability to do magic.  Is that too broad of a choice? Why? Because with magic you have unlimited possibilities.

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Kiki:  Well, I wrote what I wanted to read, so hopefully it is a story that will appeal to others too.  The story is set in Victorian London and is about a pickpocket who steals the Queen’s ring only to find that the ring is a reservoir that holds a truce between the English royals and the world of Faerie. And everybody wants the ring back.  There is mystery, romance, magic, danger, faeries and London. What’s not to like?

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles?

Kiki:  I don’t know who I would pick and I sort of hate to put an image in someone’s mind, because that might not be the way that character looks to them when they read the book.  The perfect example for me was Edward Cullen. I had this perfect image of Edward in my mind while I read the book and I can assure you he did NOT look like RPatz. Why?

The Faerie Ring (The Faerie Ring #1) by Kiki Hamilton

The year is 1871, and Tiki has been making a home for herself and her family of orphans in a deserted hideaway adjoining Charing Cross Station in central London. Their only means of survival is by picking pockets. One December night, Tiki steals a ring, and sets off a chain of events that could lead to all-out war with the Fey. For the ring belongs to Queen Victoria, and it binds the rulers of England and the realm of Faerie to peace. With the ring missing, a rebel group of faeries hopes to break the treaty with dark magic and blood—Tiki’s blood.

Unbeknownst to Tiki, she is being watched—and protected—by Rieker, a fellow thief who suspects she is involved in the disappearance of the ring. Rieker has secrets of his own, and Tiki is not all that she appears to be. Her very existence haunts Prince Leopold, the Queen’s son, who is driven to know more about the mysterious mark that encircles her wrist.

Prince, pauper, and thief—all must work together to secure the treaty… 


Thank you Kiki for joining us here today at From the Shadows!

To learn more about Kiki Hamilton and her books, please visit her website.

Guest Author Interview: Kevin R. Maze

Please welcome today's paranormal guest author Kevin R. Maze!  Kevin is the author of Wisp: A Small Town Nightmare.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Kevin:  I’ve been writing as long as I can remember! When I was about four or five, I compiled a collection of space photos from newspapers and wrote descriptions or stories with them, stapled them together in a manila envelope I colored red, and called it “My Space Book.” I also wrote for my high school newspaper as well as short stories on the side.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Kevin:  When I was a child my dad and I watched the Twilight Zone, and a few years later I began reading Stephen King. As much as I enjoyed war stories, westerns, space sagas—little boy favorites—something inside me quickened with these stories that did not have easy answers or did not end they way you thought they would. I liked the way Twilight Zone brought a different scenario and situation to different groups of people, but then there was the human element of how it affected them, not just weirdness for weirdness sake. I realized anything was possible, and in fiction, that is definitely a good thing.

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Kevin:  I think it would be great to be telekinetic because you could move just about anything: a person, yourself (flying?), stop catastrophes or attackers. In the third X-Men movie, it was the previously quiet character whose telekinesis grew that became the major threat. Of course, I would want to use the talent for good. But then again, so did she at first…

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Kevin:  It combines a traditional murder-mystery with the paranormal, which is a strange combination because in order to figure out who-done-it, the protagonists are going to have to use unconventional methods, which upsets the status quo of the small-town, whose citizens are resistant to any sort of change. “Wisp” has mystery, intrigue, some humor, a hint of romance, and the unknown, all of which I think will appeal to all readers.

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

Kevin:  I picture protagonist Sheriff Stan Murphy played by Joe Don Baker because 1) I always like Joe Don because he always brings something likeable to movies he is in; and, 2) he would be an unlikely lead for a paranormal murder-mystery, which is exactly what Murphy is: unlikely. He’s not a superhero; he’s just a guy who finds himself in a situation that he must see through to the end.

Steven Williams (“21 Jump Street,” “The X-Files”) is who I picture as Deputy Nathan Williams. In fact, if “Wisp” did get filmed, I would have to insist strongly on him because he has a presence that exudes authority and firmness, but fairness, with controlled charisma.

Medical Examiner Clarissa Amason I see portrayed by “Diagnosis: Murder’s” Victoria Rowell, Zoe Saldana, or Thandie Newton. All of them are beautiful women who exude intelligence and strength, but retain their femininity.

Those are the main three I see, so I really have nothing for Murphy’s nephew and co-protagonist Alex Fiedler. He would have to be someone who had charm, humor, and a sense of determination. I’ll leave that the reader’s imagination ;)

Wisp: A Small Town Nightmare by Kevin R. Maze

Ellerton, Alabama is a small town with practically no crime, and no homicides in five years. So Sheriff Stan Murphy is surprised when he is called out to investigate a death at Bowers Field, a popular hunting spot. Instead of finding an accidental shooting, he finds the mangled body of prominent business man Edwin Price. The 47-year-old real estate broker does not appear to be the victim of any known wildlife; in fact, there’s very little physical evidence except the presence of misshapen footprints that disappear just a few feet away from the body. Alex Fiedler is a reporter for The International Paranormal Reader and also Murphy’s nephew, who is in town to interview an alleged UFO abductee. The two men begin a quest for the elusive killer the papers refer to as “the Shadow Man.” A search that offers more questions than answers. A search for a figure of unspeakable horror that just may not be human… 

Over the course of the next week, the people of this quiet town face its worse nightmares, transforming this restful hamlet into a community of fear. Because what begins as a routine assignment soon becomes anything but routine.


Thank you Kevin for joining us here today at From the Shadows!

To learn more about Kevin R. Maze and his writing, please visit his website.

Guest Author Interview: Josephine Angelini

Please welcome today's paranormal guest author Josephine Angelini!  Josephine is the author of Starcrossed.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Josephine:  I’ve always written. My sister Mary Francis gave me a “Writer’s Journal” for my tenth birthday and I started writing in it pretty much every day after that. But I didn’t get serious about writing as a career until about 7 or 8 years ago. Before then it never occurred to me that I could go from journal writing (which is intensely private) to writing for (gulp!) an audience.

Again, it was a gift that egged me on. My then-boyfriend-now-husband gave me my first laptop and told me what I could never see for myself—that I was a writer. I guess my sister Mary Francis was on to something.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Josephine:  I’ve always been a massive sci-fi and fantasy geek. It started with E.T. and Star Wars when I was a little kid, and grew from there. I read the Darkover series by Marion Zimmer Bradley and the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffery when I was a ‘tween and got addicted to world building. Someday, I hope to build one of my own, but for now, paranormal is the perfect place for me—one foot in this world, one foot in another.

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Josephine:  I usually say “flying”, but today I think I’m going to go with “teleportation”. See, it’s cold out, so I don’t actually want to fly to the grocery store. I want to teleport there.

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Josephine:  Starcrossed is filled with action and drama. There are plot twists and betrayals that will keep you guessing until the end. But at the very heart, this is a love story-- and not just any kind of love. The love that Helen and Lucas share is truly epic. Who doesn’t want that?

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

Josephine:  I get asked this question a lot and I honestly have no answer for it! I think this has to be because Helen and Lucas are so clear in my head that I can’t imagine anyone but them playing them!

Starcrossed (Starcrossed, #1) by Josephine Angelini.

How do you defy destiny?

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.  As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.


Thank you Josephine for joining us here today at From the Shadows!

To learn more about Josephine Angelini and her books, please visit her website.

Guest Author Interview: Alexi Zentner

Please welcome today's guest author Alexi Zentner.  Alexi is the author of Touch.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Alexi:  I think, like most authors, I started writing as a kid, but I didn't start writing seriously until maybe six years ago. It took me a while to figure out the difference between wanting to be a writer and working at being a writer.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Alexi:  I'm really interested in the ways that we accept the seemingly miraculous nature of science - just the fact that we are here, that we are conscious is amazing - as a matter of fact, but we have lost touch with a lot of the myths that used to be accepted as fact. In some ways, what fascinates me the most is the question of myth: how does a story go from being an accepted fact to a myth? There is a lot of magic in TOUCH, but I think of it as mythical realism rather than magical realism. What does that mean? Mostly that the myth and magic is woven throughout the story, an accepted part of the reality of the characters' lives rather than momentary bursts of amazement. The amazement should carry through the entire novel. The magic in TOUCH doesn't just take the forms of magical realism, whether the central and south American versions or the European versions, which are rooted firmly in their own place and traditions; I'd like to believe that I'm doing something new and unique to North America. All of that being said, I didn't really realize just how much magic, how many monsters and witches and supernatural things, were in the novel until after I'd finished writing it and I had to start talking about it. I'm sure some of comes from reading widely, both as a kid and now, as a writer. I'm not particularly snobby about what crosses my desk.

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Alexi:  On the purely frivolous level, I'd have the ability to find what I was looking for in my fridge so that I wouldn't have to feel so incompetent. More seriously, I think an underrated talent would be the ability to soothe pain. Not physical pain, though that would be useful, of course, but rather the emotional pain (or less dramatically, ennui) that so many people seem to suffer from. I'm a generally happy guy, and usually when I'm not, I can just sort of say to myself, "get over it." I recognize that's not true for everybody, of course, and I wish it was something I could help with. Oh, and also, I'd like to be able to eat whatever I want - i.e. candy - and have it be good for me.

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Alexi:  Why are readers going to enjoy my novel, TOUCH? I'm terrible at these questions. I'm much better at talking up other people than myself. Okay, here it goes: Touch is set in the fictional town of Sawgamet, a north-woods boomtown gone bust, where the cold of winter breaks the glass of the schoolhouse thermometer and the river freezes so fast it can trap the drowning. Stephen, a pastor, has brought his family home on the eve of his mother's death, thirty years after the mythic summer his grandfather returned in to raise his beloved wife from the dead. Publishers Weekly and Quill & Quire gave the book starred reviews and respectively called TOUCH "eerie and elegiac," and "one of those books that gets people talking." The incredibly generous and talented authors who read the book and praised it in advance of publication called TOUCH "haunting," "full of mystery and beauty," "ravishing," "enchanted with fables," and "full of a sinister magic straight from the Brothers Grimm." While TOUCH may not fit as neatly into the paranormal genre as some books - despite the magic and the monsters, I'm not sure what genre it truly belongs in other than the always slippery category of "literary fiction" - I think the reason why TOUCH seems to be resonating with early readers is that, at it's core, the book is a love story. It's about the grandfather - who walked across the country, stole a dog from a witch, and then founded the town of Sawgamet - and his inability to let go of the woman he loves even though she is in the grave, and it's about Stephen and his own memories. While the story is told in this incredibly harsh landscape, where I have the supernatural bumping against human heartbreak and loss, Touch is actually a really hopeful book. The monsters and myths in the story are sometimes one and the same, sometimes scary and sometimes simply part of Sawgamet.

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

Alexi:  For a leading role? It's embarrassing to admit that I haven't really thought about this. It's hard to think of my novel as a movie. The honest answer would probably be whomever I thought would draw the biggest audience, though I'd probably prefer somebody who wasn't already defined by other roles.

Touch by Alexi Zentner

In Sawgamet, a north woods boomtown gone bust, the cold of winter breaks the glass of the schoolhouse thermometer, and the dangers of working in the cuts are overshadowed by the mysteries and magic lurking in the woods. Stephen, a pastor, is at home on the eve of his mother's funeral, thirty years after the mythic summer his grandfather returned to the town in search of his beloved but long-dead wife. And like his grandfather, Stephen is forced to confront the losses of his past.

Touch introduces you to a world where monsters and witches oppose singing dogs and golden caribou, where the living and the dead part and meet again in the crippling beauty of winter and the surreal haze of summer.


Thank you Alexi for joining us here today at From the Shadows!

To learn more about Alexi Zentner and his books, please visit his website.

Guest Author Interview: Deborah Andreasen

Please welcome today's guest author Deborah Andreasen!  Deborah is the author of The Gifted.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Deborah:  I’ve been writing since I was a tiny tot; I wrote a book in first grade about a girl abandoned in the forest. She was raised by fairies and returned to her parents when she was a teenager. New York Times Best Seller List, here we come! As a teen I won awards for my writing, but when I got to college, the fire died under the heaps of course work. After I graduated and worked for a few years, I felt like I had to write, or I would simply explode! That was about the time I took myself seriously as a writer. It’s been about four years now.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Deborah:  Well, I’ve always loved the paranormal. I grew up devouring King Arthur stories and loving fairies and things we can't explain (nor should we try). It just fits me. I think that we should all believe in a little magic now and then. I’ve tried writing a “normal” YA novel. No Fae, no magic, no special abilities. Just raw human nature. I couldn’t do it. I had to add a ghost in there just to make it fun, and ghosts aren't even my thing.

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Deborah:  Well, in The Gifted, Pyper has telekinetic abilities. That would be my number one choice. I have an unfinished work about a boy who can travel through dreams, and I think that would be fascinating as well. I can tell you right now I would not want to read minds. *shudder* I prefer to deal with the chaos in my own head, thank you very much.

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Deborah:  The Gifted is the story of a girl who doesn’t fit in. I think all of us can relate to that in one way or another. It also has all the necessary elements for a good read: danger, love, death, intrigue, and good old fashioned sarcasm and teenage angst. Really, though, Pyper is the kind of character that most of us could curl up inside and become at one point or another. She’s very real and just wants to be loved, even if she won’t admit it.

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

Deborah:  Oooh, this is a toughy. I did not write any of the characters with a specific actor in mind. In fact, the characters tend to write themselves sometimes. Anyway. I think Emma Roberts would make a good Pyper. She has that wholesome beauty, but she can also do dark and mysterious. Plus she rocks red hair. The male lead, Kael, was tough. I couldn’t really find anyone who fit him, both in looks and personality, but the closest I came was Zac Efron. I told you he was a tough one! For mean-girl Summer, I picked none other than Dianna Agron from Glee. Need I say more?

 The Gifted by Deborah Andreasen

Pyper just wants a normal life. But ever since the day she died, she’s been able to control objects with her mind. What she can’t control is a mother who fears Pyper’s ability and the possibility of it being discovered. Pyper only finds solace in her friend and brother, Baler.  When Pyper moves to yet another new school, she meets Kael, who takes an immediate interest in her. He knows her secret, and he's got one for her: he needs her help saving the Fae people.

The problem is, Pyper doesn’t believe in Faeries. But when her brother is abducted, Pyper doesn’t have much choice. Can she really save a race she doesn’t believe exists? Can she rescue her brother? And can she accept her second chance at life?


Thank you Deborah for joining us here today at From the Shadows!

To learn more about Deborah Andreasen and her books, please visit her website.