Blog Tour: Deadly Eyes
Today I have the privilege of hosting a blog tour stop for Michael Meyer‘s recently released Deadly Eyes.
Deadly Eyes
A HAUNTING CARIBBEAN MYSTERY
James Cuffy, better known as Cuff, is living in paradise with his girlfriend, on the small Caribbean island of St. Croix, where the sky is as blue as Cuff’s eyes, the ocean as pretty as Rosie’s cheeks, where the ge
ntle lapping of the waves is a lullaby, and the swaying of the palm trees is a dance. The sandy beaches are as white as sugar, and the horizon is a world away. St. Croix indeed is paradise, the perfect place for living, laughing, and loving.
But the sandy beaches and the turquoise sea can provide no cover from the deadly eyes of the unknown stalker pursuing Cuff. Murder leads to murder as he attempts to untangle the terrible web in which he has suddenly become entangled.
The twists and turns are relentless, the roads of the fast action leading in all directions, but time is running out, and C
uff, his faithful Rosie at his side, knows it.
A little About Michael Meyer
I have resided in and have visited many places in the world, all of which have contributed in some way to my own published writing. I have literally traveled throughout the world, on numerous occasions. I have lived in Finland, Germany, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, on the island of St. Croix, where DEADLY EYES is set. I gained the wanderlust to see the world, to experience other cultures, at an early age, and this desire has never left me. If anything, it has only gained in intensity as I have aged. I try to travel internationally at least once a year. In the interim, I spend lots of time traveling around both my home state of California and other nearby states.
I spent my early years in the small town of Lone Pine, California, the home of almost every western movie, in addition to a wide variety of other genres, made in the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s. In fact, Hollywood still films parts of big-time movies there today. My dad, the town’s lifeguard at the time, personally knew John Wayne, Lloyd Bridges, and Lee Marvin, all of whom came to the town’s pool, the Memorial Plunge, at times to cool off after a hectic day of working in the sun. I was even an extr
a in a movie filmed there in 1957, MONOLITH MONSTERS, a B-cult favorite even today. I was ten years old at the time. Even though I resided in a small town hours from the big city, I was exposed to the excitement of action and heroes at a formative age, and, thus, my interest in writing novels of suspense such as DEADLY EYES was born.
As a recent retiree from a forty-year career as a professor of writing, I now live in Southern California wine country with my wife, Kitty, and our two other cats.
Find Michael Meyer
Amazon author’s site: http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Meyer/e/B005E7M8CW/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1?tag=zomoria-20
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/674626.Mike_Meyer
Facebook writers’s site: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelMeyersWritingLife/app_191387770912394
Other Tour Stops
May 21st — H. A. Caine
May 22nd — The Book Hoard
May 23rd — Seraphine Muse
May 24th — Musings of a Writing Reader
May 25th — Just Another Rabid Reader
May 26th — These Words Tell A Story
May 27th — It’s All About Me
May 28th — Writing with Kristine Cayne
May 29th — Daily Mommy Survival
May 30th — J. A. Beard’s Unnecessary Musings
May 31st — Ramblings of Amateur Writer
Cover Reveal: Hell Hath No Fury by Bill Blais
Today, I have the honor of hosting a cover reveal tour for Hell Hath No Fury (Kelly and Umber Series #2) by Bill Blais
Intriguing looking, right? Curious? Keep reading for a guest post from the author, Bill Blais himsself!
Author Bill Blais discusses the powerful and terrifyingly striking male lead in the Kelly and Umber Series, Umber.
About Hell Hath No Fury
After the horrific events under the streets of New York City, Kelly McGinnis quit the team of demon hunters who had recruited herand did everything she could to put the experience behind her. Six months later, life is nearly normal, complete with bills, school for her children and hospital visits for her husband.
Dreams of Umber –the handsome and intriguing incubus she saved–continue to tease Kelly’s sleep, but it is only when far darker dreams–and worse–begin to infect her children, that Kelly discovers what happens if you stop hunting demons.
They start hunting you.
An Inside Look: Writing the Character of Umber
First, thanks so much to Margaret for having me by, today. I haven’t talked much about Umber, so hopefully this will be interesting, though avoiding spoilers will prove difficult.
When I started writing No Good Deed, I wanted to write about a real-life woman who still managed to hold her own against the terrifying forces of darkness. No urban fantasy would be complete without the dark and handsome stranger, however, and thus arrived Umber.
From the start, though, I knew I didn’t want a vampire or werewolf. I recognize that these appeal to many, but — aside from being, shall we say, a tad over-represented — they just don’t do it for me. An incubus, on the other hand, made perfect sense, especially to pair off against a happily married woman. This relationship isn’t going to be the standard love triangle, clearly, though I don’t want to give too much away, there.
Just making Umber an incubus wasn’t enough, however. He needed to be as real as Kelly if this was going to work, but how could I make a realistic, empathetic character out of a demon whose sole purpose for existing is to seduce others, putting their very souls in jeopardy?
Turns out, the same holds true for demons as it does for heroes: give them flaws.
Okay, but what kind of flaw would a demon have? Aren’t they all bad to begin with? Does making them worse really make them more empathetic? Making them worse doesn’t; making them better does. At least that’s the theory.
I figured that if a ‘bad’ character trait makes a hero more relatable, then a ‘good’ character trait for a demon would have the same result. Now, to avoid spoilers, I’m going to be frustratingly coy about the specifics here, but I think this approach worked. Of course, that’s not really my call, so you’ll have to let me know if it succeeded or not.
Writing Umber has been a really great trip for me. It was a lot harder to get inside his head than any of the others, mainly because I wanted to really understand how he worked, what he feels, and why. The answers to these questions have not come all at once, and I’m still only aware of part of his story. I’m sure it would have been easier and faster to go with clichés, but he deserved better. I hope I’ve done that for him.
Mind you, it’s important for folks to remember that Umber is what he is: A demon from Hell. When Kelly meets him, he has powers and traits that define his existence, and he puts them to very dangerous use without compunction. The nature of being a demon conspires against his ‘weakness’ at every turn.
The question is: Can he overcome it?
The answer is: Read the book (sorry, couldn’t help myself; but you didn’t really think I was going to give that all away, did you?).
About Bill Blais
Bill Blais is a writer, web developer and perennial part-time college instructor. His novels include Witness (winner of the Next Generation Indie Book Award for Fantasy) and the Kelly & Umber urban fantasy series. Bill graduated from Skidmore College before earning an MA in Medieval Studies from University College London. He lives in Maine with his wife and daughter.
Follow Links
- Bill Blais’ Website and Blog
- Bill Blais’ Facebook
- Bill Blais’ Twitter: @onemoredraft
Buy the Kelly and Umber Series
No Good Deed (Kelly and Umber #1)
Hell Hath No Fury (Kelly and Umber #2)
Read Sample Chapters of both books
Get a sample of No Good Deed
Get a sample of Hell Hath No Fury
Please click the tour banner at the top and visit all the other great bloggers hosting stops on this tour.
Blog tour set up by Illuminated Tours
The Journeys of John and Julia by Aurelia
The Journeys of John and Julia by Aurelia
“Cool new series…Anyone who is a fan of ‘Heroes’ will definitely enjoy Genesis.”
– Tim Kring, creator of the TV series “Heroes” and “Touch”
The Journeys of John and Julia begin.
The Twenty-Two are watching.
Reality is about to change.
It all starts when Julia’s parents totally mess with her summer. First Julia’s dad takes off to start a whole new family. Then Julia’s mom yanks Julia from cheerleader camp to spend the summer with her grandmother in the land of no signal, no mall, no best friend Kellie. Julia’s only hope for human contact is geeky John Freeman, who is six months younger than she and about a million years behind her idea of cool.
If only Julia knew that her mom plans to dump her at Grandma’s not just for the summer, but for a whole year. If only Julia knew that a collective of wondrous beings called The Twenty- Two are watching over her and trying to make contact. If only Julia knew that they could tell Julia every thought she never knew she had and bend her reality in any way they choose. And that she’d be with John Freeman when it happened. He’d think that was way cool.
And that is just the beginning. For this seemingly mismatched pair have cracked open the door to another reality. And their enemy-to-be, the beyond evil Niem Vidalgo Oten, is about to enter the picture
About Aurelia
Aurelia Haslboeck has been a storyteller all her life. Originally from Southern Bavaria, she lives up to her noble cosmopolitan lifestyle by traveling our world. With her two anchors along the same latitude and exactly the same West/East longitudes, namely Los Angeles and a village in the Himalayas, her journeys serve her storytelling. As her stories unfold and her characters emerge, audiences cannot help but identify with at least one element of the human experience. Living by the truth that we all reflect each other, the curious are encouraged to read the book then make up their own mind if it is in the least worthwhile to think about the author when her characters say it all. “The Journeys of John and Julia: Genesis” is her first story by pen rather than voice.
Purchase or Learn More Links
Goodreads: Journeys of John and Julia
Amazon: Purchase The Journeys of John and Julia in Chapter One: Genesis
The Journeys of John and Julia Website
Free E-Book Friday: May 18
Who doesn’t like free books? Here’s a few of the free books that I’ve found this week. Please remember that books are free at time of posting but may not be free in the future.
Lets go with some classics this week.
BTT: What World?
Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme held over on Booking Through Thursday.
This week, we’re asked to answer the following question…
If you had to choose to live within a novel, which would it be?
A couple years ago, I probably would have never have hesitated to say Harry Potter and Hogwarts or Twilight’s Forks. Now, that’s a more difficult question for me to answer, since there are so many great novels out there that I love and so many worlds that I wouldn’t mind living in.
Harry Potter appeals to me still. The magic, the fantasy that an old castle is really a school, the way friends come together to help one another. That draws me to Hogwarts.
Twilight still appeals to me too. However, I don’t want to live next to the characters, I want to be one of them. I want to be Bella, to have the hottest guy in school want me. The romance of the story, if you set aside the vamp/wolf factor, makes it a great story for me.
Vampire Academy and House of Night appeal to me on much the same level as Harry Potter does. Friends banding together to help one another survive situations that they can’t survive on their own.
The Hunger Games popped into my head, but I’m not sure that I’d really want to live in that world, even though I enjoyed the story.
I could keep going, but I think that covers the basic reasons why I’d choose a different world to live in. There’s not much of a variation in the theme. Friends banding together or swept off your feet, head over heels love.
Review: Deadlocked
Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I took a break from review reading to indulge in some pleasure reading – Deadlocked is the latest release in the Southern Vampires/Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood series of books and I have to say that it was one of the better books of the series.
I loved the interactions, I loved the plot even though it was a bit transparent and I really was impressed by the ending. It wasn’t what I thought was going to happen and it’s really left me wanting more.
I was really shocked by the plot with Claude, that is one thing I never saw coming, but it makes a lot of sense, looking back now. I can’t wait for book 13. Can we have it now?
Weigh In Wednesday: Ahhh, Love
Weigh in Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren at Epilogue Review
This weeks topic:
Love Triangles Vs. Insta-love
As much as I love the idea of love at first sight, in books it’s kind over done. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, they have their problems, they split up, they get back together, they live happily ever after. The end. Where-as, with a love triangle, if it’s done well, you don’t know who the girl is going to pick, you don’t know if the guys are going to wait around for the girl to make a choice. It gives a whole new depth to the budding relationship. I mean, there’s the relationship drama that they would have anyway, plus there’s a third person in the relationship to add to it. However, not all love triangles are done well and can be even more annoying than the insta-love.
If you look at Twilight – that was a love triangle that was, honestly, sorely lacking. Everyone knew that Bella was going to end up with Edward in the end. The only high point to the love triangle was that it appeared that Jacob had imprinted on her when it was really the baby.
In contrast, you have the love triangle in the Hunger Games. Katniss cared for Gale deeply, she was in love with him, really, as much as she could be considering their circumstances in life. Yet, Katniss also caress deeply for Peeta, whom she goes into the Games with. They pair them off as star-crossed lovers, and over time, her caring grew deeper. Really, no one had a clue who she would end up with in the end.
So yes, my choice is Love Triangles. What about you?
Cover Reveal: Protecting Truth by Michelle Warren
Today, I have the great honor to do my very first cover reveal here at The Book Hoard. Without further ado, I give you…
Protecting Truth the second book in the The Seraphina Parrish Trilogy; follow-up to Wander Dust.
Be on the look out for more information about Protecting Truth soon!
About Wander Dust
Ever since her sixteenth birthday, strange things keep happening to Seraphina Parrish.
The Lady in Black… burns Sera’s memories.
Unexplainable Premonitions… catapult her to other cities.
The Grungy Gang… wants to kill her.
And a beautiful, mysterious boy… stalks her.
But when Sera moves to Chicago, and her aunt reveals their family connection to a centuries old, secret society, she is immediately thrust into an unbelievable fantasy world, leading her on a quest to unravel the mysteries that plague her. In the end, their meanings crash into an epic struggle of loyalty and betrayal, and she’ll be forced to choose between the boy who has stolen her heart and the thing she desires most.
Wander Dust is the breathtaking fantasy that will catapult you through a story of time, adventure, and love.
Sound intriguing? Wander Dust is currently on sale for $.99 at B & N and Amazon
News from Dead Mule Swamp by Joan H. Young
In News from Dead Mule Swamp, Anastasia Raven is running from the pain of a failed marriage, and hopes to hide from the world in an old farmhouse she has purchased at the edge of Dead Mule Swamp. When a hundred-year-old newspaper she finds inside a wall is stolen by Cliff Sorenson, and then Cliff disappears, Ana is convinced that the paper holds the key to the mystery. But what old news could be important enough to put Cliff in danger?
Time for Death by Christie Silvers
Liz Baker thought it would be a normal evening of sex in a cemetery with her beau, until she spotted someone in the distance and all normality in her world ceased to exist. After several murders in her small town, Liz comes to the realization that the murderer is coming after her, and he's more dangerous than any human could possibly be.With the help of her dead mother, bar bouncer, and cemetery lover, Liz learns that the murdering vampire was sent by her biological father to claim her as his own. Only then does she discover her real parentage and underlying special powers.Only death will release her from Marcus's powerful hold, but who will die first?
Heritage Avenged: Enchanted Bookstore Legend Two by Marsha A. Moore
Lyra McCauley receives an alarming letter from the coroner who evaluated her deceased aunt, originally thought to have died of cancer. The news causes Lyra to take leave from her job and travel from sunny Tampa to the frozen island community in northern Michigan. Questioning whether Dragonspeir magic was responsible for her aunt’s death, she resolves to learn the truth and accepts the Imperial Dragon’s appointment into the Alliance sorcery training.
A Satan Carol by Alan Steven Kessler
Nostalgic for the Inquisition and plague, Satan feels neglected by the modern world that no longer cares about heresy or blames him for disease and death. He plans to create a new genesis, a place where people will love him. For that, his son needs just the right soul.
x0 by Sherrie Cronin
Somewhere between the world one knows exists and fanciful pretend places is the universe of x0. Here, seven billion people lead normal lives and seven hundred or so don’t. This latter group includes Lola, a Texan geophysicist who doesn’t believe in nonsense, and Somadina, a young Nigerian who thinks her abilities are perfectly normal. These women have at least two important things in common, and that much can forge a powerful link.
The Wanderer by Shawn Kirsten Maravel
After getting out of the Army, Landon Bradley packs up his motorcycle and heads North West in hopes of closing up old battle wounds and maybe even settling down. Not accustomed to staying in one spot for too long, he's not certain that he'll ever find a place that he can truly call home. When he finds himself stranded in a small Wyoming town, Landon meets Maxine Abrams, more affectionately known as Max. Her blunt honesty and humble generosity make him feel closer to home then he ever has before. But when his feelings for her grow too strong, the reality that, like everyone else, he could easily lose her too, Landon feels the ever present urge to leave again. And Landon must decide which call to heed. His heart or the open road.(
The Scorpio Series Boxed Set by Monique Domovitch
Scorpio Rising and The Sting of the Scorpio all in one, complete with book covers and book-club questionnaires. Set in New York and Paris amid the glamorous and competitive worlds of art and real estate, Scorpio Rising takes the reader from the late 1940s to the 1960s through the tumultuous lives of its heroes.
