Shotgun Sorceress by Lucy Snyder
July 17, 2010 by admin
Filed under Excerpts, Novels, Uncategorized, Urban Fantasy
The Warlock pulled off the highway onto a dirt road running between two cornfields.
Shotgun Sorceress will be released in October 2010.
“This should be it,” he said, glancing down at the magic compass he’d brought along.
“Karen, you got Riviera’s token?”
“Right here,” she replied, patting the small white beaded purse in her lap. She was wearing a long-sleeved sea-green silk gown and long strings of pearls; the outfit must have dated back to the 1930s, and it looked good on her.
We got out of the Land Rover. The ground was soft and damp, so I was glad I wasn’t in high heels. The weird calliope music of my familiar Pal’s flying spell was loud overhead. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and began to follow Mother Karen and The Warlock down a corn row.
Cooper nudged my backpack. “You could leave that in the car, you know.”
“If something happens, it’s not going to do me a lot of good if it’s locked in the car a mile away.”
“The Seelies are probably just going to make you check it at the door.”
I shrugged. “Checked at the door is still closer than locked in the car.”
We came to a clearing where a battered old scarecrow hung crucified on a couple of rake handles. A cloud of dust rose as Pal touched down, and Cooper spoke an ancient word to turn off his invisibility.
A tin cup had been tied to the straw fingers of the scarecrow’s left hand. When we got within ten feet of the scarecrow, my stone ocularis started to itch in my skull. I blinked through to the gemview that had shown me the invisible door in Karen’s back yard. I saw an odd double-image of the scarecrow and a set of bronze-reinforced oak doors big enough to admit an elephant. Read more
Winner’s Circle!!! July 10, 2010
Here are the latest Wicked Jungle contest winners. If your name is on the list please check for an email from Wicked Jungle! We’ll need your mailing address to ship out the goods!
Alayna Williams Contest Giveaway: One winner will receive a signed copy of Dark Oracle!
Winner: Heatwave!
S.A. Swann Contest Giveaway: Two winners will receive a signed copy of Wolf’s Cross!
Winners: Beau and Esigg
Linda Robertson Contest Giveaway– Winners receive signed copy of BOTH Hallowed Circle and Fatal Circle!!
Winners:Carmen and Kylie
The Linda Wisdom Contest did not have enough entrants, so we will reopen the contest starting July 12 with entries valid through July 16th! Hurry over and enter for a chance to win!
Author Spotlight: Bernita Harris
July 6, 2010 by admin
Filed under Featured, Guest Writer, Paranormal Romance
Our guest today us author, Bernita Harris, who has worked as a short-order cook, a library assistant, and a less-than- serious actress before winning a university fellowship and earning a Masters in English Literature. Subsequently, she worked in public affairs and later as a forensic consultant in occult-related material, events, practices and beliefs.
A Libra and left-handed, she is drawn naturally to the sinister side of justice. She has grown four splendid children and now lives in an old house in the Thousand Islands with a German shepherd, a “mostly” corgi and ten thousand books. A Canadian who hates the cold and thrives on spring, she spends her time writing, tending her herb and flower gardens and negotiating with the dead.
Previous to DARK AND DISORDERLY, her first novel, she has published occasional pieces of non-fiction, poetry and several short stories. Welcome Bernita!
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT
Name: Bernita Harris
Porn Star Name: ~snicker~ Rowdy Hunter
- Coffee or tea? Coffee, though floral teas are delicious.
- Chocolate or vanilla? Vanilla.
- Vampire or werewolf? Vampire…no werewolf, no…
- Meatie or veggie? Meatie.
- Salty or sweety? Salty- french fries over chocolate.
Read and Excerpt of Dark and Disorderly
Once again, a big thanks to Bernita for joining us at Wicked Jungle. As a special treat for readers, here is a teaser excerpt from the newest release.
Dark and Disorderly Back Cover Blurb
Lillie St. Claire is a Talent, one of the rare few who can permanently dispatch the spirits of the dead that walk the earth. Her skills are in demand in a haunted country, where a plague of ghosts is becoming a civic nuisance.
Those skills bring her into conflict with frightened citizens who view Talents as near-demons. Her husband comes to see her as a Freak; so when Nathan dies after a car crash, she is relieved to be free of his increasingly vicious presence. Lillie expects to be haunted by Nathan’s ghost, but not to become Suspect #1 for her husband’s murder and reanimation.
But what’s most surprising of all is the growing attraction between her and psi-crime detective John Thresher. He thinks that Lillie killed Nathan–and Nathan must agree, because his zombie is seeking revenge. Now she and Thresher must work together to solve her husband’s murder–before his corpse kills her…
Author Spotlight & Contest with Linda Robertson
June 28, 2010 by admin
Filed under Contests, Featured, Guest Writer, Paranormal Romance
We are absolutely thrilled to have friend and author Linda Robertson on our site today. Linda Robertson not only writes, she is an artist, plays the piano and electric guitar, composes and was in a super-cool rock band four children ago. Now that her four sons are older, she’s looking for a new band. Originally from Mansfield, Ohio, she’s a graduate of Ohio State University and currently lives in Medina, Ohio. She loves sci-fi action movies, her boyfriend says she’s a geek, and she firmly believes there’s never a bad time to eat ice cream.
Us to Linda! Keep reading for your chance to win a signed copy of either Hallowed Circle or soon to be released Fatal Circle (in stores June 29th, 2010).
Name: Linda Robertson
Porn Star Name: Brandy Stewart…or Fluffy Stewart.
(This would be the name of your childhood pet along with the name of the street where you grew up.)
Website Address: www.wolfsbaneandabsinthe.com (it’s getting re-vamped for the release of FATAL CIRCLE so go check it out!!!)
Writing Age:
I’m not certain how to answer this so, guessing, if we start with “infant writing” being what I wrote in elementary school, then “toddler writing” was in middle school, and “child writing” was in high school. “Tween writing” would be everything up until I got published, and “teen writing” would be what I’ve done since. I’m equating being published with getting a driver’s license here—instead of the state permitting me to drive on the roads, the publishing industry has allowed me to put my books on the shelves. That’s where I am now. I’ve learned SOOO much from my editor in this process. Paula Guran ROCKS! I don’t think I could claim that “appropriately mature” stage until I’ve done this professionally for ten years or so, like being tenured in.
First Published Work: VICIOUS CIRCLE
Current Release: FATAL CIRCLE
INSPIRATION AND MUSE
If you could live in any fictional universe/world what would it be?
The Star Trek world!!!! I’d have to be in Starfleet…I LOVE Klingons.
If you could have lunch with any author dead or alive whom would it be and why?
I had to think about this, but the Bronte sisters would surely lead an interesting conversation.
If you were locked in a room for 48 hours and forced to watch one TV show the entire time, which television series would you choose?
True Blood because I’ve only seen the first season!
What is the most outrageous or bizarre thing you have done in the name of “research”?
Tromped around Cleveland late at night taking pictures…some through the chain-locked doors that opened just enough to snap a picture of the service tunnels under the rail system. Mwahahahahaha.
What is your latest release?
What inspired you to write said story/book?
It’s the third in the series, so it’s the natural outgrowth of what the characters have dealt with in the first two. I wanted to raise the stakes—for all of these destined people. So I looked at them all individually and asked: What would push them? What would hurt them? And how can I weave those answers together? The weaving is the fun part.
Fab Five
- Coffee or Tea? Definitely JAVA! With chocolate and peppermint, of course.
- Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate.
- Vampire or Werewolf? BOTH!!!
- Meatie or Veggie? Meat.
- Salty or Sweet? Sweet.
Last but not Least
Three words that describe you: goofy, creative, semi-introverted.
Win a signed copy of Hallowed Circle or Fatal Circle!
Once again, a big thanks to Linda Robertson for joining us at Wicked Jungle. Ask Linda a question and you are automatically entered into drawing for a free signed copy of either Hallowed Circle or Fatal Circle! And yes, international contestants are eligible.
To get you started, here is a sneak peak of Fatal Circle.
My living room clock read two-forty-six a.m. It was no longer Hallowe’en night, but All Hallows Day. Or, as some called it, All Saints’ Day. But it was no saint who held me in his arms—it was a wærewolf.
“I think you’d like my apartment, Red.” Red. That’s me. Persephone Alcmedi to the rest of the world. Seph to some. Red only to Johnny, my not-exactly-Big-Bad-wærewolf. “It has that open-living concept.”
I wasn’t fooled. “It’s a glorified dorm room, isn’t it?”
“If, by ‘glorified,’ you mean it has a private bathroom, then yes.” Johnny sniffed, affecting annoyance. “Something I sacrificed when I moved in here.”
I’d had to forfeit my home’s vampire defenses three weeks ago to save a friend’s life, Johnny had temporarily moved into the third-floor attic room—for protection purposes only. In the three weeks since, those defenses had since been reinstated, but he’d remained. Being the epitome of “tall, dark, and handsome,” I hadn’t complained.
“C’mon.” Johnny’s deep blue eyes glittered seductively. His voice dropped low. “Nothing’s more romantic than a bachelor pad.”
We’d both had a hell of an evening. Words like “hectic” or “demanding” didn’t begin to cover it. I must have been the only one suffering from fatigue.
ENETER THE CONTEST
Each person who posts a comment will get one entry in the contest.
You can get an additional entries by doing the following (note these are in addition to posting a comment. You must comment first to be qualified).
- Option A: Tweet about the contest on Twitter (you must include @wickedjungle for your tweet to qualify each tweet will get you an additional entry).
- Option B: Become a follower of our blog (only new followers joining between the time of the contest will be counted).
- Option C: Promote the contest on your blog (you must include a link below to your blog post to be counted as an official entry).
Contest Ends Sunday July 4th at Midnight (Eastern) !!!
Fatal Circle by Linda Robertson
June 28, 2010 by admin
Filed under Excerpts, Novels, Paranormal Romance
There was a time when Persephone Alcmedi thought her life was hard to manage, what with wondering how to make sure she took adequate care of both her grandmother and her foster daughter, Beverley, whether she’d end up in the unwanted pos
ition of high priestess of a coven, and whether her wærewolf lover, Johnny, would resist the groupies who hang
around his band Lycanthropia.
But that was before the fairies started demanding that Seph’s frightening, unpredictable ally—the ancient vampire Menessos— be destroyed . . . or the world will suffer. Seph and Menessos are magically bonded, but that’s a secret she dares not reveal to her fellow witches lest they be forced to reject her and forbid her use of magic. And, despite the strain this casts on her relationship with Johnny, as a showdown with the fairies nears, she and Menessos badly need the wærewolves as allies.
Life, death, and love are all on the line, but when destiny is calling, it doesn’t help to turn away. With the individual threads of their fates twisted inextricably together, can Seph, Johnny, and Menessos keep the world safe from fairy vengeance?
CHAPTER ONE
My living room clock read two-forty-six a.m. It was no longer Hallowe’en night, but All Hallows Day. Or, as some called it, All Saints’ Day. But it was no saint who held me in his arms—it was a wærewolf.
“I think you’d like my apartment, Red.” Red. That’s me. Persephone Alcmedi to the rest of the world. Seph to some. Red only to Johnny, my not-exactly-Big-Bad-wærewolf. “It has that open-living concept.”
I wasn’t fooled. “It’s a glorified dorm room, isn’t it?”
“If, by ‘glorified,’ you mean it has a private bathroom, then yes.” Johnny sniffed, affecting annoyance. “Something I sacrificed when I moved in here.”
I’d had to forfeit my home’s vampire defenses three weeks ago to save a friend’s life, Johnny had temporarily moved into the third-floor attic room—for protection purposes only. In the three weeks since, those defenses had since been reinstated, but he’d remained. Being the epitome of “tall, dark, and handsome,” I hadn’t complained.
“C’mon.” Johnny’s deep blue eyes glittered seductively. His voice dropped low. “Nothing’s more romantic than a bachelor pad.” Read more
Author Spotlight: S. A. Swann
June 28, 2010 by admin
Filed under Featured, Guest Writer
Name:
S A Swann/ S Andrew Swann
Porn Star Name:
Critter Hampshire
Website Address:
Writing Age:
Given the amount of sex and violence, probably Mature.
First Published Work:
Forests of the Night (as S Andrew Swann)
Current Release:
Wolf’s Cross (as S A Swann, Spectra, July 2010)
INSPIRATION & MUSE
If you could live in any fictional universe/world what would it be?
Maybe Zelazny’s Amber universe(s), if I could be a royal uninvolved with all the backstabbing.
If you could have lunch with any author dead or alive whom would it be and why?
Stephen King— so I could pitch a collaboration that would make me rich, and if he doesn’t take me up on the offer, he still gets to pick up the tab for dinner J
If you were locked in a room for 48 hours and forced to watch one TV show the entire time, which television series would you choose?
I’m a great fan of Lost, but I actually did this one time with the entire run of Twin Peaks.
What is the most outrageous or bizarre thing you have done in the name of “research”?
Probably have to take the fifth on this as the statute of limitations hasn’t run out.
What is your latest release?
As I mentioned above, the medieval werewolf novel Wolf’s Cross is due out this July. The last book was the middle third of my Apotheosis Trilogy space opera, Heretics, which came out last Feburary from DAW books.
What inspired you to write said story/book?
Wolf’s Cross was inspired by a combination of things; an interest in medieval Polish history, the mythos established in the prior novel, Wolfbreed, and Little Red Riding Hood. Heretics and Apotheosis Trilogy is a development of my thoughts about the spiritual implications of the technological singularity (the “rapture for nerds” taken literally.)
Fab Five
- Coffee or Tea? Diet Coke.
- Chocolate or Vanilla? White Chocolate.
- Vampire or Werewolf? See latest book J
- Meatie or Veggie? Kill it and eat it.
- Salty or Sweet? Large grains of salt.
Last but not least…three words that describe you: Things go boom.
Contest: Win it before you can buy it!
S.A. Swann was kind enough to offer us a sneak peak at his next release: Wolf’s Cross. Read below for an excerpt and comment to win your very own advance copy.
Interlude : Anno Domini 1333
Her name was Lucina, and she didn’t remember who had named her. She lived in the deepest woods east of Gród Narew, and lived mostly ignorant of the humans dwelling there. The people who lived on the fringes of these woods, especially those whose families had spent generations in its shadow, knew of her and her kind. Lucina’s ancestors haunted the tales that had been spoken of in hushed tones ever since the land had become Christian.
However, it had been a long time since Lucina had family. And a long time since her kind haunted these woods in any numbers. She was alone, and the tales of the old folks about wolves clothed in human skin had become less urgent, less of a deterrent for hungry men who needed to hunt for their family’s larder.
Lucina would watch these men as they made their weak attempts to hunt. Sometimes she would watch with the eyes of a wolf, sometimes with the eyes of a raven-haired maiden. She would watch them come into her wood, and more often than not, return empty-handed.
She watched, not out of any malice, but out of curiosity and a deep loneliness. She was the last of her kind in these woods, and she thought perhaps the last of her kind anywhere. These men who came to find game, they all had a home to go to.
Home was as alien a concept to Lucina as having to trap her prey or shoot it with an arrow.
Each winter, her despair grew deeper. She would always be alone, and she envied these human women who sent their men out to parade in front of her. Why? What could these frail human women give that she could not? She was stronger then they were, faster, and a better hunter than these poor men. . .
It was not long before she decided that there was no reason she couldn’t have what they had. When she decided this, Lucina studied these men with a new eye, looking for someone she could love, and could love her back. She watched how they moved, how they hunted, how they carried their kill.
And only days into the winter, when the snow barely dusted the needle floor of her woods, she saw the man who would become her mate. This man had broad shoulders and a stature above all the others who braved her forest. He carried a masculine scent that made Lucina lick her lips in anticipation.
This was the man who would free her from her solitude.
Win a signed copy of Wolf’s Cross!
Once again, a big thanks to S.A. Swann for joining us at Wicked Jungle. Share your thoughts or ask a question and you are automatically entered into drawing for a free advanced copy of his current book Wolf’s Cross.
Each person who posts a comment will get one entry in the contest.
You can get an additional entries by doing the following (note these are in addition to posting a comment. You must comment first to be qualified).
- Option A: Tweet about the contest on Twitter (you must include @wickedjungle for your tweet to qualify each tweet will get you an additional entry).
- Option B: Become a follower of our blog (only new followers joining between the time of the contest will be counted).
- Option C: Promote the contest on your blog (you must include a link below to your blog post to be counted as an official entry).
Contest Ends TUESDAY June 29th, 2010 at Midnight (Eastern) !!!
Wolf’s Cross by S. A. Swann
Maria lives a simple life in a small Polish village, working for the lord of the nearby fortress. Motherless since birth, Maria has been raised by her father and stepmother. Around her neck she wears—as she has always worn—a silver crucifix, to protect her from the devil. Or so her father tells her.
But when a contingent of badly mauled Teutonic knights, including a handsome and gravely wounded young man named Josef, ask for succor at the fortress, Maria’s quiet and comfortable world shatters. For the knights are Wolfjägers, an order dedicated to the extermination of werewolves, and Maria, unknowingly, is one of the creatures they hunt. Only the crucifix about her neck prevents her body from changing into a lethal killing machine.
When Maria meets Darien, a wolfbreed bent on exacting a terrible revenge on humans, she will learn the truth about herself, and find her loyalties—and her heart—torn in two.
Read the Excerpt
Interlude : Anno Domini 1333
Her name was Lucina, and she didn’t remember who had named her. She lived in the deepest woods east of Gród Narew, and lived mostly ignorant of the humans dwelling there. The people who lived on the fringes of these woods, especially those whose families had spent generations in its shadow, knew of her and her kind. Lucina’s ancestors haunted the tales that had been spoken of in hushed tones ever since the land had become Christian.
However, it had been a long time since Lucina had family. And a long time since her kind haunted these woods in any numbers. She was alone, and the tales of the old folks about wolves clothed in human skin had become less urgent, less of a deterrent for hungry men who needed to hunt for their family’s larder.
Lucina would watch these men as they made their weak attempts to hunt. Sometimes she would watch with the eyes of a wolf, sometimes with the eyes of a raven-haired maiden. She would watch them come into her wood, and more often than not, return empty-handed. Read more
Demon’s Are a Girls Best Friend by Linda Wisdom
DEMONS ARE A GIRL’S BEST FRIEND
By Linda Wisdom
Chapter 1
On sale April 1, 2011
Oh yeah, just another Saturday night hitting the clubs, watching the dancers, feeling blood stream out of my ears.” Maggie O’Malley winced as Static-X’s Destroyer screamed from the state-of-the-art speakers embedded in the club’s walls. Still, she couldn’t stop her hips from moving to the throbbing music. If she wasn’t there on business she would have been out there dancing. “Why don’t you just shoot me now?”
“Any females get naked yet?” the voice of Frebus, one of her team members, rumbled from the mic in her ear. “It’s only a matter of time ’til somebody gets caught up in the moment and starts tearing off their clothes. You gotta love shapeshifters cuz they’re always the first to get down and dirty.”
Maggie played idly with the crystal earring that dangled almost to her bare shoulders. She considered her jewelry a much better look for a mic and earpiece than the usual spy gear. If only she could mute the music for an hour. Or ten.
“Sorry sweetie, I’m only seeing half-naked, but think positive. The evening’s still young.” She grinned as she heard the low groan in her ear. Frebus and her other backup, Meech and Tita, were strategically placed around the interior, on the lookout for one particular degenerate in the sea of questionable characters.
She made her way through the hordes of glassy-eyed, gyrating dancers, skillfully avoiding the groping hands on her ass and breasts. She muttered a spell against any who returned for another feel. Nothing like a magickal zap to the genitals to spoil the mood. Judging from the yelps that followed her there were at least five who tried. Read more
Author Spotlight: Alayna Williams
June 22, 2010 by admin
Filed under Contests, Featured, Guest Writer
Our guest today is Author Alayna Williams. She has an MA in sociology-criminology (research interests: fear of crime and victimology) and a BA in criminology. She has worked in and around criminal justice since 1997. Although she does read Tarot cards, she’s never used them in criminal profiling or to locate lost scientists. She recently took up astronomy, but for the most part her primary role in studying constellations and dark matter is to follow her amateur astronomer-husband around central Ohio toting the telescope tripod and various lenses. More info is at www.alaynawilliams.com.
“Alayna” is also known as Laura Bickle, the author of Embers from Pocket Juno.
Author Profile
Name: Alayna Williams
Porn Star Name:
Rusty Moore
Website Address: www.alaynawilliams.com
Writing Age:
My books are aimed toward the “appropriately mature” – there is smut! But my inner child is well and happy. I have an ass-kicking Wonder Woman action figure collection! Read more
Dark Oracle by Alayna Williams
TARA SHERIDAN HAS A GIFT . . . AND IT ALMOST KILLED HER.
As a criminal profiler, Tara used science and her intuitive skill at Tarot card divination to track down the dangerous and depraved, including the serial killer who left her scarred from head to toe. Since that savage attack, Tara has been a recluse. But now an ancient secret society known as Delphi’s Daughters has asked for her help in locating missing scientist Lowell Magnusson. And Tara, armed with her Tarot deck, her .38, and a stack of misgivings, agrees to try.
Tara immediately senses there is far more at stake than one man’s life. At his government lab in the New Mexico desert, Magnusson had developed groundbreaking technology with terrifying potential. Working alongside the brusque but charismatic agent Harry Li, Tara discovers that Magnusson’s daughter, Cassie, has knowledge that makes her a target too. The more Tara sees into the future, the more there is to fear. She knows she has to protect Cassie. But there may be no way to protect herself—from the enemies circling around her, or from the long-buried powers stirring to life within. . . . Read more