James Lyon Guest Post and Giveaway (Spooktacular Giveaway Hop)

Welcome to my stop in the Spooktacular Giveaway Hop hosted by I Am A Reader Not A Writer and The Diary of a Bookworm. So far, this is the biggest giveaway hop of the year, almost 400+ blogs are participating and there are tons of prizes to be given away.

So for this hop, we  have a very special guest in our blog and I am very pleased to welcome the author of Kiss of the Butterfly, Mr. James Lyon! *applause* 

A Guest Post by James Lyon

In honor of rapidly approaching Halloween, Erleen asked me to write a short post on vampires. She suggested that I write on the topic of “ten ways to slay a vampire”. I suppose she assumed that because I have done lots of research on the historical roots of vampires, have written a vampire-themed novel, eat lots of garlic, and have a Ph.D. in Balkan History, I would have a few ideas.

Well, I started to make a preliminary list of how to slay a vampire, but stopped. This is what it looked like:

1.     Send it lots of cute kitten photos on Facebook and email.
2.     Force it to watch the Kardashians or Honey Boo Boo.
3.     Spam it on Twitter.
4.     Make it dance to Gangnam Style.
5.    Tie its shoelaces together.
6.    Take it shopping at an after-Christmas sale on December 26^th at Walmart.
7.     …..?

The Book of Paul Blog Tour: Interview and Giveaway

Please enjoy this interview with Richard Long, author of the nail-biting supernatural thriller, The Book of Paul. Then read on to learn how you can win huge prizes as part of this blog tour, including a Kindle Fire, $300 in Amazon gift cards, 5 autographed copies of the book, and a look into your future through a free tarot reading performed by the author.



1. Tell us about the spark of inspiration that eventually grew into The Book of Paul.

The initial inspiration for The Book of Paul came when I wrote the first line of the first chapter called Exercises: “He practiced smiling.” I wanted to explore a character who had been so damaged by childhood trauma that he could no longer feel compassion, joy, affection, and had, accordingly, committed all kinds of horrible acts. I wondered if such a person could ever regain his emotional capacity and be redeemed by love.

2. What was the research process like for this book (which can at times deal with some pretty heady and—frankly—grotesque goings-on)? Any horror stories to share?

There are many aspects to the story, so the research was really extensive. I love doing the research almost as much as the writing, so it’s a joy for me to read and learn so many new things. The creation mythology literally goes back to square one and builds from there, tracing the history of Hermetic and Gnostic philosophy, alchemy, druidism and pagan mythology-- particularly Egyptian, Greek and Celtic traditions. There’s also a strong science fiction element involving quantum physics, artificial intelligence, life extension and what’s known as The Singularity. Other lines of exploration involved Irish genealogy and what I call the pain culture: tattoos, elaborate piercings and body modifications.

I made some gruesome discoveries along the way. The most disturbing was the Extreme Body Modification website I stumbled upon, which is one of the most horrifying things I’ve ever seen. I first saw it in the early days of the Internet, which is pretty amazing in itself. I checked recently and it’s still there, though I didn’t have the stomach to peek inside again. I’m actually as squeamish as some of my readers about certain things, which is probably why the horror comes across so vividly. If something scares the hell out of me, it’s easy for me to convey that fear and revulsion.

The Book of Paul Blog Tour: Excerpt and Giveaway

Please enjoy this excerpt from The Book of Paul, a nail-biting supernatural thriller by Richard Long. Then read on to learn how you can win huge prizes as part of this blog tour, including a Kindle Fire, $300 in Amazon gift cards, 5 autographed copies of the book, and a look into your future through a free tarot reading performed by the author.

Monsters: An Excerpt from The Book of Paul

by Richard Long

You tell your children not to be afraid. You tell them everything will be all right. You tell them Mommy and Daddy will always be there. You tell them lies.

Paul looked out the filthy window and watched the little girl playing in the filthier street below. Hopscotch. He didn’t think kids played hopscotch anymore. Not in this neighborhood. Hip-hopscotch, maybe.

“Hhmph! What do you think about that?”

Paul watched the little black girl toss her pebble or cigarette butt or whatever it was to square number five, then expertly hop, hop, hop her way safely to the square and back. She was dressed in a clean, fresh, red-gingham dress with matching red bows in her neatly braided pigtails. She looked so fresh and clean and happy that he wondered what she was doing on this shithole street.

The girl was playing all by herself. Hop, hop, hop. Hop, hop, hop. She was completely absorbed in her hopping and scotching and Paul was equally absorbed watching every skip and shuffle. No one walked by and only a single taxi ruffled the otherworldly calm.

Prowl Blog Tour: Review and Interview

Title: Prowl
Author: Amber Garza
Series: Prowl Trilogy
Genre/s: Young Adult, Supernatural,


Synopsis:


Seventeen-year-old Mackenzie Smith is sent away to spend a boring summer at her grandma's. But then she meets Wesley. He tells her exactly what she wants to hear and has information about her past that no one else knows. It's almost like he can read her mind.

Only Wesley isn't who he seems.

By the time Mackenzie discovers his true identity it may be too late. She's in too deep and he won't let her go. Now Mackenzie must call on the strongest power of all in order to save her life.

My Thoughts:

The thing I like about this book is that, it was believable. 

MacKenzie is your typical misunderstood teenage girl who is in constant need of love and attention. The problems she encountered in this book just reflects the problems of our present generation (i.e. broken family, bad influence, teen angst etc.). It also showed the things that could happen to a child if she were in bad company.

I think this book is a nice eye opener to teens and parents. And I really think everyone should read it, no matter what their religion is.

My Rating:

2nd Weekend Blog Maintenance

After 2 days of thinking about my template and how I'm so uninspired with it, I decided to, finally, change it.

So this weekend, September 8-9 expect menu buttons that doesn't work, widgets disarray and a whole lot of crazyness in my layout. Just be patient, and I'll make the wait worthwhile.

And also I haven't posted any reviews since the First Frost, so expect The Assassin's Curse and Taste reviews after the changes.

Until then my friends...

Ciao!