Release Day for Ravage of Revenants (Khthonia #2)

 

Everyone knows if you split the party, the players will die.

But what if it’s the only way to discover who the villain might be?

Nora Quinn has spent years honing her mystery solving skills, and when the game calls for several days of gathering information, she’s excited to uncover who the evil necromancer is. She plays Essaerae, an elven bard who is at home with the aristocrats of Willowbright Woods and political maneuvering. Yet her friends are not. They’re enjoying their new lives trapped in the dark fantasy world of Khthonia and finding the way home is no longer a priority, especially if it means hours of tedious investigating.

Assassins set their sights on the heroes and undead attack the city. Someone on the esteemed Council is likely the necromancer, and to end the curse on Khthonia, the players must unmask them. Nora’s left to figure the puzzle out on her own. The problem is, if she splits from the party, she will die.

A fantasy LitRPG/GameLit for fans of table-top role-playing games.

BUY THE BOOK HERE!

New Release - Spirits in the Water #shortstories #sciencefiction #fantasy

The fourth anthology in our Elements of Untethered Realms series, Spirits in the Water is now available.

A haunted journey on a riverboat, water sprites borne of pennies, preternatural creatures, ancient serpents, and the Lady of the Lake lurk in dark waters. Raging storms and magical rainbow fountains. Water is spectacularly beautiful but also treacherous.

Gwen Gardner gives us Shake, Rattle and Row. Harlow Grayson has the chance to rid herself of a pesky ghost but she must first brave a haunted riverboat and recover a family heirloom. What she finds might be more than she can handle.

Jeff Chapman offers The Water Wight. When a drowned girl changes her mind about suicide, Merliss and her associates face a fearsome, preternatural creature.

M. Pax presents The Wallows. Evernee Weems wants to escape this world in the worst way. Her daughter needs everything, the rent is being raised, Evernee’s job barely pays minimum wage, and she has little hope for better. Inside a puddle is a different reality. She jumps in, happy to trade her problems for a life in which worries don’t exist. Or do they?

Angela Brown gives us Extraordinary. Puberty hits Angelique like a gut punch and brings about a change, forcing an unexpected revelation about her past. All seems well until a vicious storm tears through her Texas community, and Angelique learns there are worse things than a little change.

River Fairchild presents You Can’t Go Home Again. A young woman, filled with regret about the past, goes on a journey and discovers more than she bargained for.

Simon Kewin offers us The Waters, Dividing the Land. Hyrn the horned god of the woodlands is learning the meaning of fear. Death magic blights the land, threatening everyone and everything. To save what he can from spreading corruption, he turns to the ancient river serpents, but they’ve grown old and distant and may not hear his call at all.

Christine Rains gives us Frozen. A necromancer is on the frozen moon of Saturn where the dead do scream.

Meradeth Houston presents The Flood. Sometimes a flooded kitchen isn’t the unluckiest thing to happen to you.

Catherine Stine offers Maizy of Bellagio. April still searches for her mother who vanished nineteen years ago from the fountain at Hotel Bellagio in Vegas. Can Maizy, a water sprite who works the fountain’s pink colors, begin to help the three generations of eccentric women tortured by this tragedy?

M. Gerrick gives us The One Who Would Wield the Sword. Nikka is supposed to be nothing more than dragon bait so a real dragon hunter can do his job, but the Lady in the Lake has other plans for her.

Cherie Reich presents The Folding Point. Aimee’s fight against those who banned paper magics has begun.

From USA Today, Amazon bestselling, and popular science fiction and fantasy authors comes Spirits in the Water, a supernatural anthology of eleven thrilling tales. Spirits in the Water is the fourth, long-awaited Elements story collection from the dynamic and inventive Untethered Realms group.

 

Amazon | Google Play | iTunes | Kobo | Nook | Smashwords

Add on Goodreads!

Read some excerpts from Spirits in the Water.

To celebrate the release for Spirits in the Water, the first Elements of Untethered Realms anthology Twisted Earths is free on all major retailers. Pick up your copy today!

Amazon | Google Play | iTunes | Kobo | Nook | Smashwords

9 Twisted Tales Set in 9 Twisted Worlds #SpeculativeFiction #Giveaway

Untethered Realms is celebrating the upcoming release of the 4th collection in our elemental story series: Spirits on the Water. We're celebrating by making the first in the series, Twisted Earths, FREE!

That's right, 9 outstanding, fantastical stories for the price of free.

Twisted Earths Available at:

Amazon / AmazonUK / Google Play / Smashwords / iTunes / B&N / Kobo

Here's what you get:

Twisted Earths is a collection of tales from Untethered Realms, a group of speculative fiction authors. The stories are as varied and rich as the types of soil on this and other planets—sandy loam, clay, knotted with roots and vines, dreaded paths through unexplored planets, and in enchanted forests, lit by candlelight and two moons. 

M. Pax, author of the series, The Backworlds and The Rifters spins a tale called Patchworker 2.0. Specialists with digital interfaces are the only ones who can distinguish between biological energy and mechanical pulses, and “patch” AIs, which hold the world together. Patchworker Evalyn Shore meets up with an AI with deadly intent.

Cherie Reich, known for her epic fantasy series The Fate Challenges and The Foxwick Chronicles, presents Lady Death. Umbria, a beautiful and powerful swordsmith, is given an impossible task by her brother Leon when he asks, “You are the assassin. Are you scared to destroy Death when you are up to your elbows in it?”

Angela Brown is the author of the paranormal Shadow Jumpers and NEO Chronicles series. In her story, In The Know, Jacob, a loyal family man is struggling to stay out of debt when he’s hired to report on big plans for a future Detroit. He’s given a mysterious manila envelope with instructions to “open it alone” or pay the price. With switchback twists you won’t see coming, a debt of a much steeper cost is what he just might end up paying for his involvement.

Catherine Stine, author of the futuristic thrillers, Fireseed One and Ruby’s Fire, offers The Day of The Flying Dogs, a sinister tale of brilliant, troubled NYC high-school student, Theo. He experiences a day at Coney Island that includes drugs, delusions, a lonely capybara, Nathan’s hotdogs and a mind-bending lesson in our very twisted universe.

Christine Rains, known best for her paranormal series The Thirteenth Floor, gives us The Ole Saint, a story at once sweet, horrific and heartrending. Ezra longs to fit in and have boys stop calling him witch and freak, yet his unique supernatural skill sets him apart, and the last gift from The Ole Saint cinches the deal.

Graeme Ing, known for his young adult fantasy, Ocean of Dust presents The Malachite Mine, a gripping, scream-inducing ride. Whatever was Mary thinking when she accepted her husband’s gift of a most terrifying twenty-first birthday celebration in an abandoned Russian mine?

River Fairchild, author of her Jewels of Chandra series, presents A Grand Purpose. Rosaya and her cousin, Drianna are soon to be married off, but Rosaya is unhappy with her assigned match. She’s much more intoxicated by the older Firrandor, a wizard she hardly knows. When Rosaya is accused of killing an oracle boy, all bets are off, not only for her love, but her freedom.

Gwen Gardner, who pens the cozy paranormal mystery series, Indigo Eady, adds to her collection with Ghostly Guardian. Indigo and her rib-tickling ghost-busters must travel to a dangerous pirate-laden past in order to unearth a curmudgeonly eighteenth century spirit that is plaguing the Blind Badger Pub.

Misha Gerrick, whose War of Six Crowns series is forthcoming, gives us a story called Red Earth and White Light. Emily, a young ghost bride has long haunted a house. She longs to cross over into the afterlife, but she’s trapped in memories of lilies and betrayal.

The stories in this collection are marvelous, strange, frightening, and otherworldly. And we know you're ready for more. They're coming in Spirits of the Water! Huzzah!

Huzzizzle of the Realms - February 2017 UR News

Jeff Chapman

Supernatural mayhem in the Weird West

An enchanted blade. An evil old man. An ancient spirit behind a mask. The Weird West just gets weirder.

Orville and Jimmy are a pair of hucksters, struggling to scrape together enough coin for a square meal. While Orville angles for the big score, Jimmy hopes to make an honest buck for a day's work. When an old man calling himself Marzby asks for help with a supernatural pest, Orville smells opportunity. Jimmy smells danger.

In two shakes of a lamb's tail, Marzby imprisons Orville and only Jimmy can save him from a gruesome death. The price for Orville's life? Jimmy must retrieve an enchanted knife from inside Skull Hill and put it in Marzby's hands in three days time. With the blade in reach, Jimmy runs head on into more trouble: a shapeshifting opossum, a larger than average coyote and an ancient spirit determined to keep the blade where it is. Maybe the evil Marzby shouldn't have the blade, but without it, how is Jimmy going to rescue Orville?

The Black Blade is a weird western novel in Jeff Chapman's Huckster Tales series, mixing horror, fantasy, and comedy in an Old West setting. Climb up in the wagon and follow Orville and Jimmy as they once again plunge over their heads into supernatural trouble.

Store Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon CA

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Christine Rains

Weaving Inuit myths with the modern day world.

Always read the fine print when making a bargain with a sea hag.

Lost to the clutches of her grief of losing her mentor, Saskia Dorn welcomes the opportunity to take down a warehouse of drug dealers. When their leader makes a break for it, Saskia and her ex-boyfriend, Sedge, chase the criminal shifter into the sea off the coast of northwestern Alaska. Not only do they lose their quarry, but a vicious sea hag snatches Sedge.

Saskia can’t take another loss and attempts to bargain for Sedge’s life and the salmon totem the witch has trapped in her cave. The sea hag wants only one thing: her long lost love. Who is dead. And living under the freaking ocean with the Salmon People. Find the Salmon People and return with the witch’s love before Sedge’s life is forfeit. Simple, right? Yet she can’t leave the Salmon People’s land without finding herself first.

Buy it on Amazon.

Add it to read on Goodreads.

* * * * *

Catherine Stine 

(writing this suspense novel as Kitsy Clare)

For these last weeks of February my publisher, Inkspell is offering the first ever sale of my romantic suspense, Private Internship. It's not strictly spec fiction, BUT… Sienna and Caz do a spooky Tarot reading on Halloween in an abandoned factory during New York’s Hurricane Sandy blackout… so it counts as psychological horror! Also, Sienna discovers a dreadful secret in her boss’s locked storeroom.

“What could be the worst secret you’d never want exposed? Find out what Caz is hiding that Sienna's trying to find. I was like WOW!!!” 

-Undercover Reviews

“On a dark, stormy Halloween night sculptor, Caz and his intern, artist Sienna are trapped in the old sugar factory where he resides and works. Candles are lit. To keep occupied Sienna pulls out the Tarot cards and what do they reveal? Who is Casper Mason? What secrets is he concealing? Has he found the person who will emotionally break him?” -Reader review

Marked down to $0.99 from $2.99 it’s on sale only thru March 2:

Amazon USA, UK, CA, B&N, Apple, Kobo

M. Pax

Two great giveaways for you!

Over 10 fantasy books, your for the taking. DOWNLOAD FREE BOOKS

Over 45 Urban Fantasy books in this giveaway plus a Kindle Fire! ENTER

Gwen Gardner

A new blog header depicting my fictional town of Sabrina Shores, England, is motivating me to move forward on the next Indigo Eady Cozy Mystery, A Scandal in Boohemia.

Here's a sneak peek:

It's all about adulting when Indigo Eady purchases a new flat then has to figure out how to pay for it. Luckily she lands a temporary job at the local theatre as assistant stage manager. There's only one catch: she has to stop the gangster ghost from haunting her boss. No problem—except for the murderer running loose.

Huzzizzle of the Realms - September 2016 UR News #amreading

Catherine Stine

My futuristic thrillers in the Fireseed series have all new covers, updated interiors and a brand new sequel novella called Blue House Magic. To celebrate, I've put Fireseed One (book 1) on sale for 99 cents (free on KU), and made the sequel novella absolutely FREE! If you haven't read the series, it's a great time to nab book 1.

Here's a link to the landing page, with all the info and links. And here are the pretty new covers!

* * *

Buy links:

Amazon * B&N * Kobo * Smashwords

* * *

Cathrina Constantine

"Don't Forget to Breathe encompasses so much: heartbreak, mean girls, the bad boy, the good boy, murder, mystery, and ghosts. Seriously what more could you ask for???" ~ MYBLISSFULBOOKS review

A Great Read for this time of year!!! A Psychological Thriller!!

AMAZON: One Click: smarturl.it/dontbreathe

Available in AUDIO: smarturl.it/dontforgetbreathe-au

Which seeds will aid Bex in saving her world?

In a world ruined by long-forgotten ancestors, Bex sets off to establish a new homestead with her ideal man. The fact he’s a robot and has to do everything she says is wonderful. For a day. When she arrives at the plot of earth, from which she will nurture the precious seeds she’s been entrusted with, it’s already occupied. By a man. And he’s no robot. He has radical ideas as corrosive as the air.

Also included is the Deadly Sins Collection:

The Fall: A battle with aliens for the last habitable planet will determine humanity’s fate. Are we the supreme life form in the galaxy?

Poetic Greed: The wrongs keep piling up as a heroic doctor attempts to right her life. Two greeds don’t make a right.

Blood is Thicker than Time: An anger so violent, so virile, it transcends time.

99c ebook at: 

Amazon / UK / AU / CA / DE / FR / ES / IT / NL / IN / JP / MX / BR / Googleplay /iBook / B&N / Kobo / Inktera / Smashwords

Corrosive story only (no sins) at Bookcessories for 75c

The Journeys story bundle. Three women face the start of their life. 

Plantgirl   /  A journey from hopeless to hope. Ba Rainey can barely make the effort to get through each day. In hopes of bettering her life, she puts Miracle Gro in her shoes.

Translations  /  A journey brushed by magic. Nora Elliot travels to the Mid East with Mr. Allen to translate ancient inscriptions. He barely notices her until the tomb seals him inside and she’s the only one who can save him.

Omens and Lifesavers  /  This new New Yorker’s journey begins with a naked man on the No. 7 train. This story was a contest winner and based on true events.

75c Available for all ereaders HERE

Huzzizzle of the Realms - August 2016 UR News #amreading

* * *

Renovating houses for the paranormal community is easy. Saving their world? Not so much.

Christine Rains unveiled the first three covers in her upcoming urban fantasy series, Totem.

The first book releases on October 17th, and all three are available for pre-order.

Dark Dawning (Totem #1)
Add on Goodreads.

Silent Whispers (Totem #2)
Add on Goodreads.

Cloak of Snow (Totem #3)
Add on Goodreads.

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Hekate's torchbearer and a muddy prophet

We've heard all about the drama between the Greek gods. Who the cheaters were, who got turned into what an animal, and who tricked his fellows into doing something idiotic. I've always been fascinated by the myths, but I wondered about all the poor souls we never heard about. Ones with stories just as enthralling and suspenseful.

"The Torchbearer" was inspired by a loyal lampade named Desma. A what, you ask? Lampades are the nymphs of the Underworld gifted to Hekate by Zeus for her help in the Titanomachy. They accompany Hekate on her journeys and carry torches with flames which can drive mortals mad.

Desma's story takes place in the shadow of Persephone's kidnapping by Hades. You know the one, how Persephone became the Queen of the Underworld? Well, what if there was a chance that it could have been avoided? It's that possibility which drove me to write this mournful tale.

Hekate commands Desma to visit a handsome prophet at a crossroads and listen to his words. The Fates have a sense of humor in that his foretelling is spaced out over six nights. Desma must keep returning to the crossroads, and each time, she finds the prophet closer to death.

With Demeter's neglect of the land and the chaos of the Underworld, it is a simple torchbearer and a muddy prophet who can stop it all. I wanted to know what happened. And I hope you do too.

Did he think me hollow, an empty illusion, like my torch's fire seemed to me?

5 Tips for Creating A Book Ad

Marketing is one of the toughest jobs of an author. And it's not usually one we enjoy. We're reclusive creatures and that does not mesh with being promotional gurus.

But we want to share our work with the world. One of the best ways to do so is with book ads. Maybe it's just the image of your cover with your tagline or a picture of you on your knees begging readers to buy your book. Whatever you choose to do, here are five tips for creating ads.

1) Know your audience. This means not only knowing your genre, but where your work fits in that genre. Dark, mysterious, funny? What is the theme or mood you wish to portray? What do your readers like best about your book? If it's that weird little robot sidekick, find a picture to represent it and shine the spotlight on it.

2) Make certain the font is readable. I encourage playing around with different fonts and effects, but so many times I've run across ads I couldn't read because of the font. Yes, the fancy swirls are nifty and the reflecting light looks cool, but if I can't read the ad, I won't want to read your book.

3) Images. Yes, many people suggest that displaying your book cover is essential in an ad, but I disagree. You can find images to represent different characters or scenes or a magical item. (Always make certain you have permission to use those images!) You could make your ad look like a movie poster.

4) The message. There isn't a lot of room to explain all the reasons someone should buy your book. So what can you say? Use a clever tagline or a snippet of a great review. Even a line from the story itself can work.

5) Once you've put it all together, DO NOT forget to link it to your book's buy link. Your website is okay, but if the person is interested enough to click on the ad, you want to take them to where they can buy the book immediately.

Do you have any book ad tips to share? What captures your attention when seeing an ad?

Here are a few examples of my latest ads!

Huzzizzle of the Realm - April 2016 UR News #amreading

Check out these awesome reads from the Untethered Realms authors!

Coming Out on 30 April

“First, do no harm.” Blake Ryan swore that oath to become a doctor. Ironic, given that he spent most of his thousand year life sucking souls out of other immortals.

Things are different now. Using regular shots of morphine to keep his inner monster at bay, Ryan has led a quiet life since the Second World War. His thrills now come from saving lives, not taking them.

Until a plane crash brings Aleria into his hospital. Her life is vibrant. Crack to predators like him. She’s the exact sort of person they would hunt, and thanks to a severe case of amnesia, she’s all but defenseless.

Leaving Aleria vulnerable isn’t an option, but protecting her means unleashing his own inner monster. Which is a problem, because his inner monster wants her dead most of all.

Pre-order Now At:

AmazonUS | Amazon Universal | Apple | Barnes& Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

* * * * *

Coming April 28th!

 Big Burning (Sasquatch Susies #3)

Life for Susie Russell couldn’t be better. Her lingerie business won international fame and her sister had found irrefutable proof of Bigfoot’s existence. So confident about the authenticity of their evidence, Susie even agrees to let a skeptic join their group on a research exhibition near Mt. Hood. Her world comes crashing down when the man who broke her heart turns around to shake her hand. Brach Stevens might be smart and gorgeous, but Susie refuses to let him so easily charm his way back into her life. Their trek into the woods turns deadly when they’re trapped by a forest fire. Will they be able to escape the hungry flames or will Susie perish without letting Brach know she has always loved him?

Pre-order the book:

Amazon * B&N * Kobo * Google Play * Goodreads

*****
Witch of the Cards is on SALE for only 99 cents 
& FREE on Kindle Unlimited

Fiera discovers she’s a sea witch, but someone is out to stop her blossoming powers forever. Secrets, lies, even murder, lace this sizzling historical fantasy.

“Stine weaves a spell with magic, tarot cards & exquisitely terrifying underwater scenes.”

Get it exclusively at Amazon US & Amazon CA 

*****

Don't Forget To Breathe 
On SALE for 99 cents Today!!!!

• "Bone chilling horror and heart pounding romance come together to make an enthralling read. Constantine knows how to weave a riveting and intriguing plot.  It's a YA novel and Constantine understands her audience. In short, it has all the elements reader's expect from the best in genre and it's sure to keep the pages turning at a frantic pace. It is strongly recommended!" ~ Book Viral Review
• "Don't Forget to Breathe encompasses so much: heartbreak, mean girls, the bad boy, the good boy, murder, mystery, and ghosts. Seriously what more could you ask for???" ~ MYBLISSFULBOOKS review
• 
  
• AMAZON: One Click: smarturl.it/dontbreathe

*****
BEACON is part of an awesome Amazon giveaway!
Get in for you chance to when your copy.

Tsunamis reduced the USA into a shell of itself, called The Fold. Surviving humans and vampires joined forces to form The Colony, where registered citizens do as they're told. 

They donate blood quarterly and dream of being chosen as Attendees for the Jubilee celebrations, that is, everyone except Macie Breen. With high school graduation near, she’s anxious to ditch the rules in hopes of starting a new life with Thane, an unregistered and also her best friend. 

Her hopes fizzle when Macie is selected as an Attendee, forever registered. Any future with Thane…impossible. Being chosen comes with another unexpected price. 

Truths about The Colony blaze into ashes and lies when she discovers the vampires haven't kept their part of the bargain. Worst still, Macie’s life unravels as her stint in the city of Bliss forces her to face daunting truths about who, and what, she really is

"Beacon is filled with action. There's never a boring moment in this book! So many elements are streamlined into this story and work so well with the world that the author has created. The world building is absolutely awe-inspiring. I enjoyed Macie so much. She was a great character that I loved reading about." ~ 5 * Amazon review

Go here for your chance to enter and win: Giveaway

*****

Group post - the ghost of past stuffing?

(Scrooged)

Most are familiar with the story of Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol and his visitations from the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. We at Untethered Realms have our own ghosties in residence and tweaked the idea for the holidays. Ready for an adventure? Where would you like to go?

***

River Fairchild –

I’m snagging the ghostie of the Future and heading straight for the invention of the food replicators used in Star Trek! It’s the love to eat / hate to cook and clean syndrome. I’ll snag the first one off the assembly line and take it back home with me!

***

Christine Rains -

Oh! I like River's idea. Calorie free hot fudge sundaes like Deanna always ate! Yeah. But since River already went on that adventure, I'd like to go on one closer to our time. I'd have the ghost of the Future take me ahead about forty years or so to see how my son is doing. Because as a mom, I'm always worried if I'm messing things up.

And look. Wow. Who is that handsome doctor/chef/astronaut/comic book writer in the future tech glasses? A parent can dream!

***

Gwen Gardner -

No trip with the ghostie of Christmas Future for me -- I don't want to know what's in store. 

And I'm well acquainted with the present already, so that's out, as well. 

That leaves a tour with the ghost of Christmas Past. While I'd love to visit Victorian times, I wouldn't want to live there. I sort of love our modern instant gratification thing; hot water, convenient transportation, fast food. 

But if I could go back about 30 years in the past, I'd tell my younger self: 1) get your butt in gear and start chasing dreams, and, 2) quit wasting precious time just because you're afraid to fail,

So now I'm just going to have to live an extra long life, just like Scrooge, to make sure I fit everything in. #NoRegrets

***

M. Pax -

Bet you expect me to take the future ghostie way ahead to see if the Backworlds is true or not. It's tempting, but I also have a passion for history. Did you know Thanksgiving was created by aliens? They gifted us the ambrosia of stuffing. Mmm. My favorite food. So, I'd have to venture into the past to see the aliens bringing us the sweet nectar of stuffing. Yes!!

***

Ellie Garratt -

I'd have the ghostie of Christmas Past take me back to 1977, so that I could see the first Star Wars film at the cinema. I was only five years old when it came out, so I never had the chance to see it or the other two on the big screen. I was obsessed (still am) with Star Wars. I asked for a Millennium Falcon and stormtroopers for Christmas that year! Alas, I was given a Barbie doll. I'm still waiting for my Millennium Falcon. Maybe this year I'll be lucky?

Creative Commons 2.0 (by-nc-sa)

Julie Flanders -

I'm another who would choose the Ghost of Christmas Past. I'd go back in time to 1930s Cincinnati so that I could spend Christmas with my maternal grandparents. I never knew my grandfather as he died decades before I was born, and I was only nine when my grandmother died, so I've always wished I could have spent more time with her. Even though the country was in the midst of the Great Depression, my mom's family still loved Christmas and celebrated it in the traditional German ways. Being German, they also loved their beer. I'd ask Mr. Past to take me back to one of their Christmas Eve celebrations for the night so I could enjoy sitting down for a beer (or two) with my grandparents. 

Scenes from Christmas Eve in Cincinnati - 1920 (from the Taft Museum of Art)